The Uchiha Clan: The Second Survivor
by pinkrose064
Summary: Since he was seven, everyone has thought that Sasuke was the only survivor of the Uchiha Clan, but obviously that wasn't the case since Obito was running around. What if there was another survivor of the clan who didn't grow up in Konoha? First book in a series of stories about members of the Uchiha Clan. Rated T just in case because the Naruto series is violent. ;
1. Prologue

It was the middle of the night when Uchiha Itachi was suddenly awoken by the sound of somebody knocking on the frame of the shoji door that led from his room to his home's engawa.

"Itachi-kun!" Came an urgent whisper. Itachi blinked in surprise as he recognized the voice and stood up, getting out of bed and opening the door to find a young woman standing there, her breaths hurried and her face panicked as she held her six-year-old daughter in her arms.

"Megumi-san, what is it?" Itachi asked politely.

"Th-There's an intruder in our house..." The woman, Uchiha Megumi managed, her fear obvious, "I-It's... It's the masked man from three years ago!"

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he swiftly grabbed his katana and ANBU mask. The reason why Megumi had come here was obvious. She knew enough about the aforementioned intruder to seek out the ANBU, and it was no secret within the clan that Itachi was a member of their ranks-even though it should've been. "Did he see you?" The preteen asked as he sat on the engawa and swiftly strapped on his shoes.

"I-I don't think so... H-He was in my husband's study... as soon as I saw who it was, I grabbed Aiko and fled from the house." Itachi nodded and stood up. "Wait here." He said, swiftly disappearing as his parents came hurrying down the hall to investigate the commotion.

"Megumi? What are you doing here at this hour?" Itachi's mother, Uchiha Mikoto, questioned.

Megumi turned toward the other woman, "O-Our house was broken into... I would've gone to the Police Force Headquarters, but... here was closer and... I recognized who the intruder was."

Itachi's father, Fugaku, nodded in understanding, "Stay here with Mikoto and Sasuke. I'll head over to HQ right away to notify Nichi."

"Yes." Megumi said in understanding as Fugaku cut through Itachi's room to head for the front door.

Mikoto placed a hand on her relative's arm to try and calm her, "Let me make you some tea. It will soothe your nerves."

Megumi nodded and followed Mikoto.

愛の恵み

"I didn't find any trace of him or what he was after when I arrived at your house, but that's not too surprising." Itachi informed Megumi, her husband, Nichi, and his parents when he returned. "There's a high probability that he sensed you fleeing from the house and took his leave before I ever got there. He's good at escaping quickly and without a trace."

"Do you have any idea what he was after?" Fugaku asked Megumi, since she was the only person to have seen said intruder.

Megumi nodded, "When I peeked into the study, I saw him flipping through Nichi-kun's research files."

"My historical research?" Her husband looked perplexed, and then contemplative. "...Why would he be interested in...?"

"Mama..." Megumi's daughter asked quietly from where she sat on her mother's lap, "Are we in danger?"

Megumi smiled reassuringly at her daughter. "Of course not, sweetie. No matter what, Itachi-kun and the clan will always look out for us." She held her daughter close in her lap and softly sang her a lullaby. "Where a turtle swims the sea... There's a mirror full of truth to see. Sleep my darling, safe and sound. For in this mirror, you'll be found. From your likeness, every part... you'll hear candor to what's in your heart. Listen carefully to your words... But not too long, or you might burn. Yes, she will sing if you will hear... And in her song, your truth will show... But can you brave what you most fear? Can you face what the mirror knows?"

* * *

So this is a prologue that I wrote to expand a little on some of what's mentioned in Returning to Konoha. Megumi's lullaby refers to the Waterfall of Truth on Turtle Island and is to the tune of "All is Found" from Frozen II. Contrary to All is Found, however, this lullaby, called "You'll be Found", is largely metaphorical, whereas All is Found is rather literal.


	2. When They Were Young

A seven-year-old boy with unruly blond hair ran through the forest before stopping at a stream. As he gazed at the clear waters, his thoughts were immediately drawn to the meal he had shared with an old man a few years ago. Roasted fish and a pot of boiled mushrooms. A simple meal, but nonetheless satisfying, and most importantly, free. He contemplated whether he should have the same thing for dinner today, when a voice broke through his thoughts.

"What are you doing?" The boy turned to see a little girl, maybe a year younger or so than him, with dark brown hair and shiny black eyes, staring at him curiously.

"Huh? Oh. I was just thinking about having fish and mushrooms for dinner." The boy said.

"You can make that all by yourself?" The girl asked.

"Well sure! I always take care of myself!" The boy boasted with a grin.

The girl looked confused, "Why doesn't your mama or papa cook for you?"

The boy's face fell and he looked at his feet. "Don't got a mom or a dad. Never did."

"Oh..." The girl looked ashamed, but the boy shook it off.

"What are you doing out here anyway? I normally don't run into anyone else when I'm here." He asked. The place they were in was within the walls of the village, yet still deep within the forest. It was rare for other children to come here, especially alone like he did.

The girl pursed her lips slightly and looked off to the side, "I don't like playing in the village. It's weird there."

"Weird? What do you mean?"

"I don't know." She said with a shrug, "It just is."

"Hm. Well you can play with me if you wanna. My name's Uzumaki Naruto-ttebayo!"

The girl giggled, amused by Naruto's verbal tic. "I'm Uchiha Aiko." She replied with a sweet smile.

"Uchiha?" Naruto repeated, "Do you know Uchiha Sasuke then?"

Aiko's smile faltered and she considered how to answer, "I know of him. He's the clan leader's younger son. But the clan leader scares me, so I stay away from him. If I ever do see Sasuke-senpai, it's only when he's at the park with his older brother, in which case, I don't bother them."

Naruto nodded in understanding.

愛の恵み

Several hours passed as the pair of children played together in the vast forest near their village. Hide-and-seek was a particular favorite of Aiko's, but she was thoroughly impressed by Naruto's ninjutsu abilities, unaware that he was actually rather lacking in talent.

"I learned this stuff at the Academy!" Naruto told her proudly, even though his physical agility was something he had always had.

"Wow! I can't wait til I start at the academy next spring!" Aiko exclaimed.

Naruto chuckled and rubbed his nose before turning his attention to the darkening sky. "It's getting dark... You should probably head home. And I still need to catch the fish for my dinner."

Aiko frowned sadly, then suddenly brightened and clasped Naruto's hand in her own, "Why don't you come eat with my family, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto faltered and looked at the ground, "I don't think I should... most of the adults hate me-ttebayo. They always tell their kids not to hang around me..."

"My mama and papa would never do that!" Aiko insisted, "Mama always says that all children should be treated with kindness!"

"Well... if you really think it would be okay..." Naruto said hesitantly. He did like the idea of not eating alone, and of not having to fend for himself to have dinner.

Aiko nodded with a bright smile, then suddenly looked contemplative, "Oh, but... we'll have to sneak around to get to my house. The grown-ups of my clan are scary, and they don't like it when other people come to the compound..."

Naruto grinned mischievously, "That suits me just fine!"

愛の恵み

Aiko led Naruto on an extremely roundabout path to their destination, so much so that it was dark by the time they finally made it to the edge of the Uchiha compound, and even then, Aiko was making a point to avoid the main roads. However, just when they had nearly reached her house, a man suddenly appeared before them and both children yelped in surprise.

"What do you two think you are doing?" The man asked, as if accusing them both of a crime.

Aiko gulped. Despite her best efforts, they had run into one of her clansmen. She didn't know this man particularly well, but it didn't really matter. Trying her best to be brave, she looked him in the eye and answered him, "I'm bringing my new friend to my house to have dinner. Mama and Papa are probably waiting, so would you please let us past?"

"Do you know who that boy is?" The man asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto. The boy that all the adults hate. Or so I've been told." She answered matter-of-factly.

The man's eye twitched, as if she was missing the entire point, "He's the reason for our clan's persecution! The reason that we're treated like we're not part of the village!"

"I don't care!" Aiko declared defiantly, "Even if that is true, it can't be his fault! It's not right to blame someone for things beyond their control!" Apparently further angered, the man reached for Aiko, but abruptly stopped when a man's voice yelled at him. Aiko looked up to see her father standing there. "Papa!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Aiko's father asked as he strode forward, putting himself between his clansman and the two children. "What is the meaning of this, Kagen?"

The man named Kagen narrowed his eyes before pointing at the two children, "Your daughter is trying to bring that monster child into the compound!"

"What my daughter said is exactly right." Uchiha Nichi replied, "A child should not be blamed for something he has no control over."

Kagen's eyes narrowed, "Are you trying to make the village suspicious of us by letting her bring him into the compound?"

"The village is already suspicious of us." Nichi said flatly, "If they weren't, we wouldn't be living in this compound, away from everyone else, and my wife would've been free to do whatever work she chose."

"They'll say we're trying to use the Sharingan to—"

"This has nothing to do with the Sharingan!" Nichi exclaimed, "She hasn't even awakened it! Is my daughter a criminal for wanting to invite a friend to dinner?"

Kagen's eyes narrowed further, and without warning, he thrust a kunai into Nichi's stomach. The man gasped, choking out blood before collapsing.

"Papa!" Aiko cried in terror, rushing to her father's side, only to see blood pouring out of the wound. She stared at him helplessly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" A young voice demanded. Kagen turned to see a preteen boy standing there, glaring at him. For some reason, he seemed to adopt a more submissive attitude in the boy's presence.

"Uzumaki Naruto must not be allowed near the Uchiha Clan." He explained.

Aiko's whole body shook. What was this man saying? He had just killed her father because she, an Uchiha, was friends with Naruto? A moment ago, he had been talking as though Naruto's presence was dangerous for the clan, but now he was talking as if it were the opposite. But Kagen was an Uchiha himself, so why would he say that? And her father... this was a member of their clan, or supposed to be, so he had completely let his guard down. He hadn't even seen that kunai coming. And now he was lying here before her, and she was powerless to save him. She hadn't been able to save him when the attack had come, and now it was too late. Unlike her father, Aiko was unnaturally distrustful of the adults in her clan, so she never let her guard down around them. If only she had had more power... If she had, maybe she could've protected her beloved father. As the tears fell down her face, Aiko's vision was slowly dyed red, but she hardly noticed this fact as she continued to stare at her too-still father.

The boy quietly observed the terrified Aiko and the stunned Naruto before speaking to Kagen again, "You can't go around killing clan members over things like this. It's entirely outside the scope of our mission. And attacking children for such things is out of the question entirely. Leave, now, before I'm forced to contact the Hokage."

Kagen bowed his head slightly and disappeared from sight. The boy sighed, but before he could act, a female voice broke through the foliage around them.

"Itachi-kun?" A preteen girl with dark brown hair and black eyes broke through the trees. Aiko suddenly snapped out of her daze and looked toward the girl. The world was dyed red and nothing looked right, but she recognized the girl by her voice.

"Izumi-neechan!"

"Aiko-chan!" Uchiha Izumi cried in shock, quickly taking in the body lying next to the younger girl and the sight of Aiko's large round eyes turned crimson red. "Oh my gosh! What happened?!" She rushed forward, quickly embracing the younger child, and Aiko began to weep in the older girl's arms. Izumi looked up at the boy for an explanation.

"...A disagreement between clan members." Uchiha Itachi said reluctantly, "I know who it was. I'll take care of it." Izumi nodded and continued comforting Aiko. The situation was actually far more complicated than she would ever know, but Itachi couldn't inform her of that. He turned his attention to Naruto, who seemed to be slowly coming back to reality, only to look ready to turn and flee from the scene before him. "Naruto-kun." Naruto flinched, but upon looking up and recognizing Itachi, he didn't attempt to run. Itachi knelt down to the younger boy's level and placed a hand on his shoulder. "This wasn't your fault." He assured him. Mouth dry, Naruto nodded mutely, and Itachi closed his eyes. "For your own sake..." The Uchiha boy opened his eyes again, this time crimson red, and a split second later, Naruto passed out in his arms.

"Itachi-kun...?" Izumi asked uncertainly, understandably unsettled by the fact that Itachi had just used the Sharingan on a child.

"I used genjutsu to erase his memories of this." Itachi explained to reassure her, "When he wakes up, he'll believe that he and Aiko-chan simply parted ways in the forest. It's better for his own sake if he doesn't remember seeing what just happened. The feeling that he is somehow to blame for the death of his friend's father might be too much for him to bear."

"Yeah..." Izumi agreed quietly.

"How is she?" Itachi asked, turning toward Izumi with the unconscious Naruto in his arms.

"She seems to have passed out." Izumi replied as she stroked Aiko's hair. "Probably due to the strain placed upon her chakra."

Itachi nodded in agreement, "She seemed familiar with you. Do you know where she lives?"

"Yeah. Our moms are friends." Izumi replied, "So I've pretty much known her since she was born."

"Then would you mind taking her home?" Itachi asked, "I need to take Naruto-kun back to his own home."

"Sure." Izumi said with a nod, standing up with Aiko in her arms.

"Would you mind staying there until I return?" Itachi asked, "I think it might be best if she and Basan... weren't alone right now."

Izumi nodded firmly before her lip quivered with doubt, "What should I tell Auntie?"

Itachi hesitated for a split-moment. Izumi showing up with the unconscious Aiko would mean that she would have to explain the fate of the younger girl's father to her no-doubt already worried mother, which Izumi herself knew very little about. However, Izumi also did not know where Naruto's apartment was, and even if she did, having her return the Jinchuuriki to his home would only aggravate the situation. Only he, as the lone Uchiha in the ANBU, could perform that task without making things worse.

"Just tell her that Aiko-chan was attacked on her way home, that her husband was killed by the attacker, and that you'll be staying with them until I can come to explain the situation to her properly."

Izumi nodded, her previous hesitation gone. Itachi was a fast thinker, so she hadn't detected his momentary hesitation. He was also a chunin while she was still only a genin, in addition to being a member of the ANBU and having four years of experience on her despite being the same age, so she had no reason to doubt his judgment.

Itachi nodded to Izumi before hurrying away with the young Naruto. After returning the child to his own home, Itachi immediately went back to the compound, but rather than going straight to Aiko's home, he first went to his own. He was definitely going to have to deal with his father first, before he got word of Nichi's death from somebody on the police force.

"Itachi! There you are!" His mother said when he entered the house, "You're late for dinner."

"I'm sorry." Itachi apologized to her, "Something came up, and even now that I'm here, I can't stay. Where is Father?"

"We haven't finished yet, but if you need to leave right away again, I'll go and get him." Mikoto replied, hurrying back into the dining room where her husband was with Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke.

A moment later, Uchiha Fugaku walked out of the room and looked at his older son, "What is it?"

Itachi's jaw clenched slightly. He and his father had been at odds with each other for a while now, with things only becoming worse following the death of Itachi's best friend, Shisui.

"Nichi-jisan has been killed. A man disguised as a member of our clan attacked Aiko-chan, on her way home. Nichi-jisan protected her, but was killed in the process. Izumi and I heard the disturbance and were able to stop the man from harming Aiko-chan." Itachi told his father. Unlike with Izumi, this explanation was entirely true, although not in the way that Fugaku would think it was.

Nonetheless, Fugaku seemed somewhat dissatisfied. "If you have to leave immediately after telling me that, I'm guessing there's more to it." He remarked.

Itachi nodded, "Because this incident was caused by somebody from outside the clan, Lord Hokage would like for the investigation to be handled by the ANBU rather than the police force, to avoid increasing the current tensions between the clan and the village. However, he also acknowledges that it is both the right of Uchiha clan and their place to handle this matter. Therefore, he requests that you would allow me to deal with the situation instead."

Fugaku seemed to contemplate this, "Where is Aiko now?" He asked.

"Izumi took her home. I asked her to stay with Aiko-chan and Megumi-basan until I came." Itachi replied.

Fugaku sighed, "Yashiro and the others won't be content with the investigation being given to you instead of the Police Force, especially given their suspicions about Shisui's death... however, if we can obtain a witness statement in their presence from Aiko confirming that it was not you that attacked her, as well as Izumi, who was with you, that should be enough to make them accept it."

Itachi nodded and bowed to his father, "Thank you for understanding." It was a rare moment of expressing heartfelt words to his father. Itachi was already aware of the fact that his father and the other members of the clan fully intended on carrying out a coupe d'tat against the Hokage and were merely working on a plan, so the fact that his father was, for the time being, willing to preserve what little stability there was left was a relief to him. Without saying anything more, Itachi turned and hurried to where Izumi was waiting.

愛の恵み

Upon reaching Nichi's home, Itachi knocked on the door politely. To his surprise, it was Izumi, rather than Aiko's mother, who answered the door. While Izumi had likely recognized his aura, the socially inept preteen still thought that it was a bit strange that she had answered someone else's door. Izumi greeted Itachi and then led him down the hall to another room, where he found Uchiha Megumi sobbing with her face in her hands while Aiko was lying on a futon nearby, still passed out. Itachi sighed quietly and entered the room, kneeling to sit in front of Megumi as she looked up at him, eyes begging for an explanation.

"Aiko-chan met Uzumaki Naruto-kun in the woods and befriended him. She tried to sneak him into the compound to have dinner with your family, but a mutual enemy disguised as a clan member intercepted them to try and keep Naruto-kun away from the clan. When Nichi-jisan came across them while looking for Aiko-chan, he defended Aiko-chan's decision to be friends with Naruto-kun. The man believed that Nichi-jisan was attempting to use Aiko-chan to bring Naruto-kun within the Uchiha's reach, so that we could take control of the Kyuubi within him, so he killed Nichi-jisan in front of Aiko-chan."

"I see..." Megumi said quietly, "So the reason she was unconscious when Izumi-chan brought her home was—"

"Yes." Itachi interrupted gently, feeling that particular piece of information was best left unspoken. "Izumi and I heard the commotion, and I was able to get there before he could harm the children."

"But... Itachi-kun..." Izumi said uncertainly, "You told me it was a disagreement between clan members."

Itachi looked over at his only friend, apology in his eyes, "I said that for Aiko-chan's sake. She's not able to see through a transformation yet." He explained, still unable to tell Izumi the full story.

"This man... did he—" Megumi began.

"He didn't see. He was too focused on me when he sensed my approach." Itachi told her, anticipating her question, and this time she seemed to understand what he wished to leave unsaid.

The woman sighed in relief before she stood up and walked over to pick up her sleeping daughter, "Itachi-kun, would you be so kind as to escort us to the Hokage's mansion? I need to speak to him about this directly. As a member of the ANBU, you should be able to take me to him, right?"

Itachi nodded—the fact she knew that he was ANBU was unconcerning, since that was basically public information within the clan—and turned to Izumi. "You should return home. Tell your mother that I apologize for keeping you so late."

"She'll understand." Izumi said with a nod before she and Itachi stood up.

愛の恵み

It took roughly thirty minutes for Itachi and Megumi to reach the Third Hokage's mansion, walking rather than running to avoid waking the still-sleeping Aiko. Once they did, it was easy for Itachi to gain an audience with the man, and the two of them were soon seated in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"I see..." Hiruzen said thoughtfully, looking down as his pipe, "Do you know who was responsible for this, Itachi?"

"Yes." Itachi replied, "It was a member of Root."

"Root?" Megumi asked in confusion.

Itachi said nothing, unsure what was permissible to reveal to the woman, but Hiruzen answered for him.

"Root is subdivision of the ANBU under the command of Shimura Danzou." He explained, "They act only on his orders. All the same, killing a citizen of Konoha on mere speculation is unacceptable."

Megumi looked down, a hidden darkness in her eyes, "I never did like that man..."

The Hokage nodded, knowing that Megumi had something of a personal history with Danzou. "I will make sure that he does not attempt to harm you and Aiko-chan."

"Thank you, Lord Third, but with all due respect, I don't think that will be enough." Megumi replied.

"Oh?" Hiruzen asked, wondering what she was thinking.

"Danzou was the one who forced all of the Uchiha—including my husband and I—to move into the compound, isolated from the rest of the village. After tonight, it is safe to assume that his subordinate has somehow infiltrated the Uchiha and has been keeping an even closer eye on us than we originally thought."

"Than you originally thought?" Itachi asked with a brow raised.

"My husband knew about the surveillance cameras." Megumi said bluntly, certain it was a subject that Itachi was already aware of, "Even when his Sharingan was inactive, my husband had sharp eyes, so he noticed them. Although he never mentioned the matter to the clan, he did memorize their locations and taught them to Aiko. Although she has not received any other training yet, he taught her how to evade the cameras and move through the compound unseen. He didn't like the idea of anybody spying on a small child. That was why Aiko took a roundabout way to try to sneak Naruto-chan into the compound instead of just walking through the front gates. Aiko knows that the members of the clan are not fond of outsiders entering the compound, so she decided to sneak him in. That is also why my husband knew exactly where to find her."

"What was it you were saying about a spy among the Uchiha?" Hiruzen asked, abruptly changing the subject, and Megumi looked back at him.

"On top of being paranoid, Danzou hates the Uchiha, but the only way he could possibly know about any subterfuge being planned by them would be to have a spy on the inside. In his mind, Itachi-kun would be insufficient. Whatever differences he may have with other clan members, the Uchiha are still his family and hold a part of his heart. No. Danzou would only be satisfied with a spy that had no ties to the clan, and therefore, no reason to withhold information from him. However, it would be critical that said spy was believed to be an Uchiha by the clan members themselves. Otherwise, he couldn't gain access to the frequent meetings held within Nakano Shrine. Before tonight, I never even suspected such a thing, but now, I am certain of it."

Although their expressions didn't change, Itachi idly thought that this woman could probably outthink Danzou himself, while Hiruzen became sharply aware of exactly _why_ this woman specialized in behavioral analysis and why she had been considered an asset to Konoha during the war.

"If I am correct in assuming this, then I can also assume that Danzou is aware of the clan's plans for a coup d'tat." Megumi continued, "In that case, he could easily use that as an excuse to kill Aiko and I. The only way to avoid that is for the both of us to disappear."

"Disappear?" Hiruzen asked, raising a wrinkled brow.

"Yes." Megumi told him, "My husband was never in favor of the coup. When the time came, he intended to take our family and disappear in the chaos. It wasn't a plan I was particularly fond of, but now, I believe I have a better solution. With your permission, Lord Third, I would like to retire as a kunoichi, take my daughter, and leave Konoha."

"Where will you go?" Hiruzen asked.

"To a civilian village." She answered vaguely, "Aiko and I will renounce the name of Uchiha and become ordinary citizens. I've had the option of retiring for a long time now, and Aiko hasn't even entered the Academy yet, so it shouldn't cause a huge uproar."

"That would be acceptable to the village, but I am not so sure about the Uchiha." Hiruzen replied.

"As far as the clan knows, Aiko has not awakened the Sharingan, and since I am not a member of the clan myself, they will not have a just cause for keeping her bound to the clan." Megumi answered while turning to Itachi, "I'm certain that you can convince Izumi-chan not to say anything. She adores you." When Itachi nodded, Megumi turned back to the Hokage and bowed politely to him, "I am a kunoichi of Konoha. My duty is to protect the king; our children, the future of this village. But I am also a mother, and so the first child that I must protect is my daughter, who is the future that my husband died to save."

Hiruzen smiled a bit and nodded before he thoughtfully blew out a puff of smoke, "Very well. I will approve of your 'retirement' and leaving the village, effective immediately. When you leave, I will send a team of ANBU to secretly escort you until you are a few miles from Konoha. After that, you will be on your own. After all, if even I do not know where to find you, then neither will Danzou. From now on, your mission will to be protect Aiko until she is grown. After that, it will be up to her whether or not she returns to Konoha to rejoin the Uchiha clan."

"Understood."

愛の恵み

The following morning, Aiko finally opened her eyes. Feeling a bit disoriented, she sat up and looked around, and then noticed Itachi sitting in the corner of her room, appearing to be asleep while sitting up. "Itachi-senpai...?" She asked hesitantly. The boy opened his eyes so calmly that Aiko questioned whether he had actually been asleep or not and gave the younger child a sad, gentle smile.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?" He asked.

Aiko furrowed her brow in thought, trying to remember exactly what had happened, or could've happened, that had some how resulted in the clan leader's son sleeping in her room as though he were guarding her. Images of the night before flashed in her mind, and she gasped. "Papa!"

Itachi frowned and stood up, walking over to Aiko and kneeling next to her, placing a hand on the panicked girl's shoulder to gain her attention. "Try to calm down. I understand you're upset, but if you don't calm yourself, you'll pass out again. You understand why, don't you?"

Aiko looked mildly confused, then realization entered her eyes and she nodded, seeming to regain some degree of level thinking.

Itachi turned his head, looking toward another part of the house. "I think your mother has breakfast ready. Shall we go eat?"

Aiko nodded slowly, and when Itachi held his hand out to her, she took hold of it and allowed him to help her up. As they left her bedroom, she clung tightly to his hand, obviously still afraid. They entered the dining room, where Megumi had just finished placing the last dish on the table, and she smiled weakly at the two of them.

"Good morning you two. You're just in time for breakfast." The woman informed them.

Aiko nodded to her mother and looked around in confusion, noting the strange emptiness of their house. "Mama, where is everything?" She asked as Itachi led her to the table and she sat down next to him.

Megumi smiled sadly at her daughter, "I've been busy since last night, packing all of our things into summoning scrolls."

"But why?" Aiko asked, picking up her chopsticks.

"Begin breakfast properly first." Megumi instructed.

Aiko nodded, clasping her hands together and bowing her head as her mother and Itachi did the same. "Itadakimasu." The three of them said simultaneously.

"Aiko," Megumi began as Aiko began to pick up food with her chopsticks, "Do you remember how we talked with Papa about moving away from Konoha to live in a civilian village somewhere?"

"Uh-huh." Aiko said with a nod. She swallowed her food and continued, "Because it was safer or something, right?"

Her mother nodded, "Well... you and I are going to be leaving a little sooner than planned." She said.

"How soon?"

"Today."

Aiko's eyes widened, and then she looked down at her food, her expression unreadable, even to Megumi. "Is this because I tried to bring Naruto-kun home to eat dinner with us last night?"

Megumi's eyes widened, and then she shook her head, reaching across the table to take her daughter's hands in her own, "It is because of what happened last night, but this is not some kind of punishment, honey. You did absolutely nothing wrong by inviting Naruto-chan to eat with us. However, what happened last night... has made me realize that Konoha is more dangerous than I originally thought. I've already packed most of our things. Chief Fugaku will be coming by soon, and then after that, we will leave."

"Why is the chief coming?" Aiko asked, looking confused and a bit uneasy. She looked at Itachi for answers, thinking that he might know if her mother didn't.

"...He wants you to tell him about what happened last night..." Itachi answered hesitantly.

"But why?" Aiko asked, "Couldn't he just hear that from you?"

"Aiko," Megumi cut in, "You know how you're always saying that the adults of the clan scare you?"

"The men do." Aiko replied with a nod.

"Well... Do you remember... how Shisui-kun passed away a few months ago?" Her mother asked, trying to be as sensitive to Itachi about this as she could.

Aiko nodded again, "He fell into the river, right?"

Mayumi nodded in confirmation, "That's right. However, there are some people who think that somebody else was involved, and, without any good reason, they think that Itachi is to blame."

"Huh?" Aiko replied in utter confusion, turning her head back to Itachi, "But you were best friends, right? Friends don't hurt friends. Papa said there was no way that you would ever try to hurt Shisui-senpai."

"That's right, Aiko." Megumi said, answering her child quickly so that Itachi wouldn't have to. "But these men are fools who don't like Itachi-kun, so they are blaming him on purely circumstantial evidence. So Chief Fugaku needs you to tell him what happened last night so that he can know for sure that Itachi-kun had nothing to do with your father's death, otherwise, they'll try to blame him for this too. I know you don't want to talk about it, but we need to help Itachi-kun, do you understand?"

Aiko nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful. "Yes Mama."

愛の恵み

Shortly after their meal had ended, Izumi arrived, and then Fugaku arrived a short while later, his subordinates, Yashiro, Tekka, and Inabi in tow, along with his wife.

"Sorry we took so long." Mikoto apologized to Megumi, "We had to wait until Sasuke left for the Academy."

"No, it's fine." Megumi assured her, "I had to finish some preparations anyway."

"But, why are you here, Hahaue?" Itachi asked in confusion.

"I asked her to come." Fugaku answered, "Your mother is better with children than these three are. Better with them than I am, for that matter." Itachi nodded in understanding. A few minutes later, Aiko sat between Itachi and Izumi on the floor of the living room with Fugaku and the others sitting across from them, and Megumi sitting to the side.

"Aiko-chan," Mikoto began gently, smiling softly to reassure the child, "Can you tell us about what happened last night?"

Aiko was clinging to Itachi's arm, but she slowly took a breath, nodded, and let go as she began to speak, casting her eyes toward her lap. "I met Uzumaki Naruto-kun while I was out playing yesterday and we played together, and then I invited him to have dinner with Mama, Papa, and I. We were playing in the woods, so we came into the compound from that direction. A man stopped us and got mad at me for inviting him. Something about Naruto-kun being the reason why people treat our clan badly, which I don't really understand... That's when Papa came and they started arguing about it. Papa didn't think I had done anything wrong. Then the man stabbed Papa with a kunai, and... I guess I screamed, because shortly after that, Itachi-senpai came. I don't really remember what happened after that, but I do remember that the man was talking as if... as if bringing Naruto-kun to the compound was some kind of crime against the village."

"Can you identify the man who killed your father?" Fugaku asked.

Aiko shook her head, "Papa called him Kagen, which I think... is the name of one of the grown-ups in the clan, right? The man did look like an Uchiha, but... if he were a member of the clan, then why would he say that the clan was using me to do something suspicious?"

"But you can confirm that it was not Itachi?" Mikoto asked, and Aiko looked up at the woman, nodding firmly without a hint of doubt in her eyes.

"I heard the two of them talking when Itachi-senpai came. Even if you use _henge no jutsu,_ you can't make it sound as if you're having a conversation between yourself and somebody else, right?"

"Hm." Yashiro said thoughtfully, closing his eyes as though he disliked what Aiko was saying, but couldn't deny the child's logic in this case.

"Itachi," Fugaku said while looking at his son, "Tell us what happened from your point-of-view."

Itachi nodded and began to explain, "I was walking with Izumi when we heard voices arguing. I couldn't tell what the argument was about, but when I heard Aiko-chan scream, I rushed to the location to investigate. When I got there, I found Uchiha Nichi-san on the ground with a kunai in his stomach, Aiko-chan kneeling beside him. There was indeed a man there who was disguised as Uchiha Kagen, but I could tell right away that he was an imposter. Naruto-kun was standing nearby, but he was in shock, and I don't think he even noticed my arrival."

"I'm assuming that the man in question fled." Yashiro remarked, opening his eyes again and glaring at Itachi, "Why didn't you pursue him?"

"I felt that attending to the safety of Aiko-chan and Naruto-kun was more important, so I prioritized that over pursuing the assailant." Itachi replied flatly.

"Itachi-kun was of higher rank than anybody else present at that time." Megumi pointed out, "Izumi-chan is only a genin, Naruto-chan is currently in the Academy with Sasuke-chan, and Aiko has not started at the Academy yet, but Itachi-kun is a chuunin and a member of the ANBU. You can't fault him for making the call to prioritize the children's safety over apprehending the man who killed my husband. It was his call to make."

Yashiro glared at the woman in slight annoyance, but Fugaku made a motion for him to let the matter go and looked at Izumi. "Izumi, can you confirm Itachi's story?"

Izumi nodded, "Yes. I never saw the man who attacked Uncle Nichi, but Itachi-kun was with me when we heard the argument and Aiko-chan's scream. He's faster than me though, so he got there before I did. I never saw the man who was responsible."

"We should find Uzumaki Naruto then and question him about the incident." Inabi remarked.

"I'm afraid that won't be an option." Itachi stated, "I could see that what he had witnessed would've scarred Naruto-kun severely, so I used genjutsu to erase his memory of the event."

"That won't stop us from using the Sharingan to check." Tekka pointed out.

"No." Fugaku said firmly, "Itachi acted out of sight from public view and his actions were likely necessary to preserve the seal. However, if a member of the Police Force were to approach Naruto in public and attempt to use the Sharingan to view his memories, it could weaken the seal and give the village reason to accuse us. Besides, this is not an official investigation of the Police Force. We were only speaking to these three to alleviate any suspicions that Itachi was somehow responsible."

"With regards to that, Chief, I would like to offer my insights into the Shisui case." Megumi said from where she was sitting.

All four men from the Police Force looked at her in surprise.

"The Shisui Case?" Tekka repeated.

"You haven't been assigned to that case. What insights could you have to offer?" Yashiro questioned.

"I work within the Police Force as a behaviorist. I do not need the full details of the case to be able to offer insight." Megumi replied evenly.

"I'm listening." Fugaku told her.

"...I believe that the investigators in charge should drop Itachi-kun as their primary suspect." Megumi stated.

"On what grounds?" Inabi asked suspiciously.

"Lack of substantial evidence for one thing." Megumi replied, "You marked him as a suspect on the grounds that he was the only other person absent from the clan meeting that night. However, shortly before that incident, I happened to see Sasuke-chan on his way to the Academy. He looked deeply troubled, so I asked him what was wrong. He told me that he had been awoken the night before by an argument between the Chief and Itachi-kun regarding the meeting in question. From what Sasuke-chan had overheard, Itachi-kun had informed his parents beforehand that he would not be attending the meeting that night. Is that information correct, Chief?"

Fugaku closed his eyes, seeming irritated, but he answered, "Yes. I didn't realize that Sasuke had overheard that much..."

"Even so, what of it?" Tekka asked, and Megumi shifted her gaze back to the three men.

"Only a moron of a criminal would announce his intentions to be absent from an important event before committing murder, and we all know that Itachi-kun is far from unintelligent." She stated. "I believe that you should shift the investigation to consider the possibility that the culprit was in fact, not a member of the Uchiha Clan."

"On what grounds?" Inabi questioned.

"Shisui-kun's eyes." Megumi replied, "The fact that his eyes were missing is the only reason to believe that it was not truly a suicide in the first place. That being said, Itachi-kun would've had absolutely no reason for taking Shisui-kun's eyes. It makes far more sense that somebody from outside the clan would have targeted him for that reason. Your other grounds for suspecting Itachi-kun was that he could've used used the Sharingan to forge Shisui-kun's suicide note, however, the same can be said of literally any person who wields the Sharingan, as long as they could locate a copy of Shisui-kun's handwriting, which could likely have been found within his house. In that regard, it is far more plausible that somebody attacked Shisui in order to take his eyes, transplanted one of them into themselves, and then forged the note."

"But if somebody from outside the clan had taken Shisui's eyes, the transplanted Sharingan would be noticed." Tekka pointed out.

"Not if it was somebody who had lost an eye previously." Megumi told him, "Think about it. When a Sharingan is transplanted to somebody who is not a member of the Uchiha Clan, it remains constantly active and constantly consumes chakra unless the eye is closed or covered. With that in mind, what person, in their right mind, would choose to replace _both_ their eyes with stolen Sharingan?"

"If that were the case, why take both his eyes?" Yashiro asked.

"A backup, perhaps." Megumi answered, "Or perhaps Shisui-kun got away and entrusted his remaining eye to Itachi-kun. He would not have had to meet with Itachi-kun to do so, because he used ravens as a summon, and so does Itachi-kun. Isn't the normal procedure amongst the Uchiha that when a member of the clan is killed, a comrade retrieves their eyes?"

At this point, Mikoto spoke up, "Megumi-san is right. Wasn't the real reason that Itachi lashed out when you accused him of killing Shisui because he was already mourning the death of his friend, only for you three to say that he was to blame?" She shook her head at them reproachfully, "The three of you accused Itachi without sufficient evidence. You jumped to a conclusion because you were angry at him for voicing his disagreement in the meetings at Nakano Shrine."

"It's as my wife said." Fugaku remarked while turning a sharp eye toward his subordinates, "I've stayed out of it up until now, but in the face of what Megumi said, I can say without bias that Itachi likely had nothing to do with Shisui's death. Itachi is careful to keep his emotions in check, so the reason for his outburst that day is probably exactly as Mikoto said. The three of you are investigators. You should not jump to conclusions or allow personal bias to cloud your judgement."

All three men, especially Yashiro, appeared angry, but they nonetheless bowed their heads to Fugaku in acknowledgement of his reprimand. "Understood."

Megumi sighed, appearing slightly less tense, and then looked back at Fugaku and Mikoto, "My thoughts on this matter have been troubling me for some time. Thank you for hearing me out. I would not have wanted to turn in my resignation without voicing my concerns to you."

At this, Fugaku and Mikoto both looked surprised. "Resignation?" Fugaku asked.

Megumi nodded and held a scroll out to him, "As of today, I am resigning from the Konoha Police Force and retiring as a kunoichi. My daughter and I will be leaving to go and live in a more rural part of the Land of Fire, where it will be safer for her. We will also be leaving the name Uchiha behind when we go."

"Wait a minute!" Yashiro exclaimed, "You're one thing; you married in. But Aiko is a member of the Uchiha Clan!"

"Aiko is half-Uchiha." Megumi replied bluntly, "There is no guarantee that she will ever develop the Sharingan, and without that, you have no grounds for keeping her bound to the clan." She turned and looked at Fugaku and Mikoto again, bowing respectfully to them, "Please do not misunderstand. I am grateful to the Uchiha for all they have done in accepting my marriage to Nichi and allowing me to join the Police Force. However, in light of what has happened, I must prioritize my daughter's safety above all else. There are still members of the Shimura clan who hate me for marrying an Uchiha and leaving. They hate Aiko still more for being a descendant of both clans. So I must go somewhere where she can be safe. Where she can grow up without the dangers and strife that being 'bound' to a clan entail. We may return one day, when she is older, but for now, this is what we must do."

Fugaku closed his eyes, appearing thoughtful, but when Mikoto placed a hand on his shoulder, he looked at her, and something unspoken passed between them. He nodded and then looked back at Megumi, "We understand. Thank you for your service in these past years."

愛の恵み

Sometime later, Aiko and Megumi headed toward the A-un Gate with Itachi, who was seeing them off when a young voice called out, "Hey! Aiko-chan!"

"Huh?" Aiko turned and looked as Naruto abruptly leapt down from a nearby rooftop and landed in front of her. "Naruto-kun." She replied, her eyes slightly confused, "Shouldn't you be at the Academy by now? Sasuke-senpai left more than an hour ago..."

"Eh, I know a shortcut." Naruto said with a cheerful shrug, "Besides, the Uchiha Compound is way farther from the Academy than my apartment."

Aiko's face turned a bit sour and she looked down to the side, "Don't remind me..." She remarked bitterly.

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked in confusion, "You don't even go there yet."

"And I'm afraid I never will..."

"Huh?"

Aiko turned her shiny black eyes back to the older child, tears welling up in them, "Mama and I are leaving Konoha, Naruto-kun."

"Eh?! Why?!" Naruto asked in surprise.

Aiko's gaze fell and she pursed her lips, "Because grown-ups make things way too complicated, that's why."

Itachi's eyes widened and he whispered to Megumi, "Just how much does she know?" He was referring, of course, to the tumultuous state of the Uchiha Clan and their tense relationship with the rest of Konoha.

"Nearly everything." Megumi replied quietly, "She's incredibly perceptive and observant for her age. That's why she was always sneaking out to play in the woods."

"Man! This stinks!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're my first friend ever and now you're leaving!"

Megumi smiled sadly and knelt down to the child, "I know it's hard, Naruto-chan, but I'm certain that you will make other friends. You have a good heart, just like your parents. You just need to give people time to realize that."

Naruto's eyes widened at her words, "You knew my parents?! Can you tell me about them?!"

Megumi smiled softly and she looked thoughtful, "Let's see... I can't tell you their names, but I can tell you what they were like. Your mother was..." She chuckled, "Rather loud and rambunctious, just like you. And like you, she was kind of a misfit because people didn't really like loud, rambunctious girls back then. But truthfully, most of us girls admired her, because she wasn't afraid to be herself." She laughed, "And your father... hm... he had a warm and calming presence. You remind me a lot of him in that regard. There's something about you that is warm and bright. And just like you, your father was always willing to watch out for those who were weaker than himself. And he was a man... who wasn't willing to give up on his dreams." She smiled at Naruto gently and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Most important of all, your parents loved you more than life itself. Nothing could've ever meant more to them than you did. I'm certain that there will be sad times and tough times in the future for you as well, but... No matter what, never give up on your dreams, Naruto-chan. Chase after them with everything you have, even if it doesn't seem like its enough. And never stop trying to reach out and connect with others. Always try to help those who aren't strong enough to get through hardship on their own. If you do, I'm certain that someday you will forge unbreakable bonds with the people around you. Bonds that nobody can sever, no matter how they might try. And don't ever, ever give up on somebody, for it is only when you turn your back on someone that they are truly lost to you. Remember, hope is only lost when you have let go of it, and even then, it can be found again."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, before sadness filled his features, but he smiled through it and nodded. "Yeah!"

Megumi stood up and Aiko hugged Naruto tightly, "Goodbye, Naruto-kun. I hope we meet again someday." She released the Uzumaki boy and then took her mother's hand, continuing on their path to the A-un Gate.

"That's the first time I've seen an adult express such concern for him or treat him with such kindness." Itachi remarked quietly, and Megumi smiled softly, easily picking up that the preteen also felt concerned for the orphaned outcast.

"Truthfully, when his parents died, Nichi and I wanted to take care of him ourselves, but... It just wasn't possible, under the circumstances."

"Mama, why don't people want Naruto-kun to be near the Uchiha Clan?" Aiko asked, picking up on her mother's meaning, but still not knowing the reason behind it.

"I'll tell you about it some other time, Aiko. I don't want the problems that we adults have created to give you any more burdens than they already have." They stopped upon reaching the A-un gate, and turned to their young escort, "Thank you for everything in the past day, Itachi-kun." Megumi said warmly.

"There is no need to thank me." Itachi replied, "But thank you for clearing my name with regards to Shisui's death."

She smiled weakly at them, "Of course. My husband was never bold enough to voice his dissent in the meetings at the shrine, but he could tell that you and Shisui-kun were of the same mind on that matter. That's why he told me it was impossible that you would ever attempt to harm him. You aren't the type who would hurt somebody in order to gain power."

Something like surprise seemed to pass through Itachi's eyes, followed by a sadness that only Megumi could perceive. "Yeah."

"Itachi-senpai, thank you for saving me last night." Aiko said to the older Uchiha.

Itachi smiled gently and knelt down to her level, "Please don't speak so formerly." He told her.

"Then... Itachi-niichan!" She said with a smile, before leaning forward and hugging him, "Goodbye, Itachi-niichan."

Itachi looked a bit surprised, but he carefully returned the embrace and nodded, "Goodbye Aiko-chan. I wish you well."

愛の恵み

Approximately one year later, Aiko was playing in the woods near her new home when she sensed a familiar presence. Looking up, she spotted Itachi and her face instantly broke into a smile. "Itachi-niichan!" She exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace the older Uchiha.

Itachi smiled sadly, placing a hand on the young girl's head before looking up at Megumi as she approached cautiously. Seeing the pain in Itachi's eyes, Megumi seemed to understand something without him saying it and offered him a wry smile. "Why don't you come in for some tea?"

Later that night, Megumi sat in the main room of her house with Itachi after Aiko had gone to bed. "I heard what happened." She told him, "But can I ask... why?"

Itachi looked down at the floor. "The clan was moving forward with the coup. I was the only one who could stop it without causing further unrest. If... If I had not... Sasuke..."

"I see..." Megumi said quietly, her eyes drifting toward the floor as well, "If you refused the assignment, everyone would die, but if you accepted it, your clan could still hope to survive."

Itachi nodded gravely and Megumi sighed, "It's just like Danzou to come up with a reason like that..." Slowly, the woman moved forward and gently embraced Itachi, much to his surprise.

"It's okay to cry, Itachi-kun." Megumi told him gently, "The Uchiha often believe tears to be a sign of weakness, but that isn't the case. Certainly, there are times when you should avoid it. In front of your enemies for example. However, if you don't allow yourself to cry and to grieve, you will end up destroying your humanity, and becoming somebody that you never wanted to be. My husband once said that the Uchiha have a bad habit of trying to bear their burdens alone, and that ultimately destroyed them. Don't try to bear your pain alone, Itachi-kun. You won't survive."

Before he even realized it, tears were falling down Itachi's cheeks, and he clung to the woman who, in that moment, reminded him so much of his beloved mother.

愛の恵み

"No! No! Stop!"

Itachi awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of Aiko screaming.

"No! Papa!" She cried in terror.

"Aiko darling, please wake up!" Megumi exclaimed.

Itachi frowned. Was his younger cousin having a nightmare? He stood up and walked out of the guest room of Megumi's house, noticing the instant that he stepped into the hallway that the door to Aiko's room was open. He walked into the room to find Aiko squirming in her sleep, her face twisted in terror, and Megumi kneeling beside her, tears streaming down her face as she tried desperately to wake her daughter. Something wasn't right. Why wasn't Aiko responding to her mother?

"What's going on?" He asked, barely loud enough to be heard.

Megumi looked up at him, "Itachi-kun!" She exclaimed before looking back at Aiko. "This has been happening every night since we left Konoha, and each night it's become more and more difficult to wake her. Recently, when she does wake up, her Sharingan is active. Tonight, she won't respond to me at all! My voice can't reach her!"

Itachi's frown deepened and his brow furrowed. Something wasn't right. Aiko ought to awaken from a nightmare before her distress became enough to activate her Sharingan. He turned his gaze to her, staring at her intently as he pooled chakra into his eyes to activate his own Sharingan. "Her chakra is disturbed..." He murmured.

"Huh?" Megumi said in confusion, watching as Itachi suddenly came and knelt on the other side of Aiko. He placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her down gently.

"Kai!" The teenager allowed his chakra to surge into his younger cousin's body, and Aiko awoke with a gasp, breathing heavily as her glowing red Sharingan locked onto Itachi's own. Suddenly she bolted upright and latched onto her cousin, her breaths never slowing. Itachi wrapped his arms around her to assure her that she was safe. "It's all right. You're okay..." Aiko sniffled and calmed down a little, though she didn't relinquish her grip on Itachi. "Who's doing this to you, Aiko?" Itachi asked her.

Aiko looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "It's the monster..." She whimpered.

"Monster?" Itachi asked.

Aiko nodded and looked down again. "It's always there... Haunting my dreams... whispering to me in the day... trying to convince me that I should hate Konoha, or that it was Naruto-kun's fault that Papa died." She tightened her grip on his shirt, "But I know that's not right. And I... I don't want to hate anybody. Nothing good comes of that. Our clan was consumed by hatred, and look what's happened to us. Papa tried to warn them... he tried to tell the grownups that the flames of hatred would destroy us... but nobody would listen. Instead, they started hating him too, saying that he cared more about the village than the clan. But that's not true. Papa cared about the clan more than anybody else. It's just that he knew that for the clan to survive, we would have to coexist peacefully with the village. But no one would listen. And now... almost everyone is gone, just like he warned them..." She curled up tighter as she clenched Itachi's shirt with her tiny hands. "I don't want to be like them. I want to be able to go back someday."

Itachi felt Aiko slump slightly in his arms and stroked her hair again. "Get some rest. You've used up a lot of your chakra. Don't worry about this monster. I'll take care of it."

"Okay..." Aiko murmured as she drifted off to sleep, and Itachi passed her over to her mother. Megumi looked worried as she held her daughter close.

"She was being attacked by a genjutsu in her sleep?" She asked in surprise.

"Yes." Itachi said with a nod, "She's always been talented in genjutsu, so up until now, it would seem that she's been breaking free on her own. The one she was trapped in tonight must've been too strong for her. I have an idea who's behind it. Wait here. I'll take care of it."

"All right." Megumi agreed with a reluctant nod.

Itachi walked outside and glanced around before saying, "I know you're there... come out... Zetsu..." The ground slightly to the side of him broke as the plant creature who was technically his colleague rose from under the dirt.

"How did you know I was here?" The white half of Zetsu asked.

"When I realized that Aiko was trapped in a genjutsu, I briefly scanned my surroundings and noticed you." Itachi said calmly. "The Sharingan can see through walls to a point."

"Oh..." The white side said with interest.

"Why have you been attacking Aiko?" Itachi demanded quietly.

"That girl's father was able to obtain a dangerous amount of information on our plans before his death." The black half explained.

"That has nothing to do with Aiko. She is not a threat to the Akatsuki." Itachi said calmly. "Currently, she is not even expected to become a shinobi."

"That may be so..." The black side said thoughtfully, "But why did you lie when the Hidden Stone requested her abduction?"

"I didn't lie." Itachi replied, "To be exact, I said 'Uchiha Aiko no longer exists', which is true. I never said that she was dead. When her father died, her mother had Aiko's name stricken from the clan's records. Thus, she has not existed as 'Uchiha Aiko' for nearly a year now."

"You're awfully protective of her." The white side remarked with a hint of suspicion.

"Her father was my tutor before I entered the Academy and one of the few members of my clan that I got along with." Itachi stated flatly. "This is my way of repaying him for teaching me the foundations of a shinobi." His Sharingan spun to the surface. "I'll only say this once. Stop bothering Aiko. She isn't a threat to the Akatsuki and she never will be."

"...Very well..." Zetsu's black side said reluctantly. "Then I'll leave it to you to monitor her."

愛の恵み

"Itachi-niichan!" Aiko called the next day, running after Itachi as he prepared to leave and grabbing onto his cloak. The teenager turned to look at the little one, who was gazing up at him earnestly with her large, black eyes. "Will you train me?"

"Train you?" Itachi asked, careful not to let Aiko see the pain that her question had brought.

The little girl nodded, "I want to learn how to use the Sharingan, but Mama can't teach me because... well... she doesn't know."

"I see." Itachi said, looking away in thought. For some reason or another, Zetsu viewed her as a threat... He said that her father had obtained a dangerous level of information on 'their' plans, but... He recalled the incident of Madara breaking into Nichi's home to examine his research files... Nichi's research had been of historical nature, and mostly pertained to things from long before the Akatuki ever existed. Had the man discovered something that was somehow related to Madara's plans. Megumi had told him that Nichi had since encoded the files in a way that only Aiko would be able to read, and only by using her Sharingan. Zetsu had backed off for now, but there was no guarantee that when Sasuke killed Itachi, the creature wouldn't target her again. To ensure her survival, training her would be necessary. Despite that, he shook his head solemnly, "Not this time, Aiko-chan. I need to return to my mission. But I'll come visit you again and I'll teach you about the Sharingan then, okay?"

"Okay!" The child chirped happily.

* * *

So, originally this was going to be a one-shot, but it was getting to be too long, so I decided to break it into parts based on age. It will probably have four parts all together. Just so we are clear, Itachi does not think of Aiko in the same way that he does Sasuke. He does feel a certain attachment to her as the only member of his clan that he did not have to kill besides Sasuke, due to her not living in Konoha and technically not having the Uchiha name, but he doesn't view her as a sister. To him, she is more of a younger clan member that he feels a responsibility to look after to a certain degree, partly because she has nobody else to learn about things like the Sharingan from. Any pairings that appear in this story will be canon to the actual series.

Originally Aiko's mother was Mayumi, but I have since changed it to Megumi. However, it's possible that I missed an instance or two where her old name appears.

EDIT 12/19/18: I added in the actual questioning from the Police Force. I was originally going to omit it, but then I realized that it was relevant to another chapter later on, so I added it back in. It made the chapter much longer. ;

EDIT 01/22/19: I added in a scene with Aiko saying goodbye to Naruto, which I had meant to include to start with. Not only does it not make sense for her to not say goodbye to her friend in some way, but I also felt that somewhere along the line, somebody must've encouraged Naruto for him to even survive being in the Academy without losing his mind. ;

EDIT 01/11/19: I'm rewriting bits and pieces of this to clean up some continuity issues and also add in a few things that I had planned to write as one-shots, but just couldn't figure out how to make it work.


	3. Megumi’s Warning

Several years later, Hatake Kakashi studied the map that the Third Hokage had given to him when he and his genin squad had received their current C-Ranked mission. Some small village in the mountains of the Land of Fire was having a problem with bandits, apparently, and for some reason, the client had specifically requested Team 7 to come and deal with the problem.

He was trying to ignore Naruto's endless chatter. The blond was boasting about how having been requested for this mission must be a sign that the three of them were becoming known by civilians. He was, for the most part, being ignored by his teammates, with Sakura trying to strike up a conversation with Sasuke along the same vein that Naruto was basically talking to himself in, and Sasuke blatantly disregarding her. However, even the Uchiha boy had a certain air of smugness about him, more so than usual, and Kakashi suspected that Sasuke felt the same as his teammates about this mission.

But things couldn't be that simple. The only mission that the three Genin could've possibly made a name for themselves on was the mission to the Land of Waves a few weeks before, but nobody living in the countryside of the Land of Fire should be aware of that incident. So how was it that a random village knew about their team well enough to request them specifically? Then again, not that he was about to point this out to his students, but perhaps the client had really requested him and the Hokage had just sent the three preteens along with him for the sake of experience.

The answer soon became clear as the three of them reached their destination, only for the villagers to be utterly confused by their arrival.

"It's true that we have been plagued by bandits lately." The village elder stated, "But our village doesn't have the funds necessary to request a mission from Konoha."

"Then, who..." Sakura began.

"I'm the client." A female voice said, and everyone looked up as a woman approached, her face and hair carefully concealed by a scarf wrapped around her head.

"Megumi-san..." The village elder said in surprise, then shook his head. "I should've known. You're the only one who could've possibly commissioned a mission from Konoha."

The woman nodded and looked at Team 7, "Please, come with me, and I will explain everything." She turned and walked away, and the four ninja followed her as she led them to a house in the woods just beyond the village. The home was small, but somehow seemed more stately than the ones belonging to the other villagers. The woman led them inside and then removed the scarf.

"I apologize for all of the secrecy." She said as she turned toward them, "The truth is that I am a Chuunin from Konoha on a long-term mission in this village." As proof, she pulled out a Konoha Forehead Protector.

"A long-term mission?" Sasuke asked, and Megumi nodded.

"Yes. My daughter possesses a rare Kekkei Genkai that she inherited from her late father. There were those in Konoha who targeted her for this reason, so when my husband died, Lord Third assigned me a long-term mission to leave Konoha and raise my daughter in a more remote location, where I could more easily protect her."

"You were assigned to protect your own daughter?" Kakashi asked with a raised brow, and the woman looked directly at him.

"There is nobody more suited to protecting a child than her own mother. It is a mission for which women will give their lives whether or not they have been ordered to do so. Your mentor's wife was a perfect example."

Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly, and then he looked more serious, "So I'm guessing this mission was assigned within the past decade?"

"Yes." Megumi said with a nod.

"But if you're a Chuunin, why do you need us to drive off these bandits?" Sakura asked.

Megumi looked at the younger kunoichi firmly, "I am undercover. Nobody in this village knows of my past or of my daughter's. That is also part of the assignment to protect her. If I fended off the bandits on my own, the villagers would take notice. That said, the circumstances have changed. Rather than a simple C-rank mission to drive off bandits, I am now asking that you assist me in my mission."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, worried that this was headed in the direction of their last "C-Rank" mission.

"The bandits have taken my daughter. I don't believe that they know about her Kekkei Genkai, but they must've caught her by surprise in the forest and likely intend on selling her." She frowned, looking worried, "My daughter is very adept at sensing the presence of others, but her combat abilities are... lacking. She was never fully trained due to the circumstances of our mission. I'm also concerned by the fact that they managed to sneak up on her well enough that she didn't have time to hide herself. Regardless, since I can't do so without calling attention to myself, I need the four of you to rescue her." She looked at Kakashi again, "You can summon Ninja Hounds, correct?"

"You didn't leave Konoha very long ago, did you?" Kakashi replied, and Megumi smirked.

"My daughter is one year younger than your students, and you made a name for yourself in the last war."

"Fair enough." Kakashi said, raising his hands in surrender, "Do you have something they can track her scent with?"

"Of course." Megumi remarked, picking up a piece of cloth, "I found this in the forest. It's a piece of my daughter's clothes, so the scent is fresh."

Kakashi nodded and quickly got to work.

愛の恵み

Meanwhile, Aiko was lying on her side in the back of a wagon as the bandits entered a cave that they'd been using as their hideout. One of them chuckled as he looked at the girl, unable to tell that she was awake. "We'll get more for this girl than we could've from that whole village."

As the bandits laughed amongst themselves, Aiko lay perfectly still, her eyes hidden by the mirrored glasses that she always wore in case her Sharingan should activate accidentally due to emotional stress. Without moving, she redirected her chakra to her eyes in order to activate it. As her vision was dyed red, she became aware of the chakra of the bandits, as well as five other signatures quickly approaching. Smiling inwardly while maintaining the appearance of being unconscious, she formed a sign with her right hand behind her back and directed her gaze to meet that of the two bandits standing behind the cart. Both men's eyes went wide, and then they suddenly collapsed.

"Huh?" Said a man standing beside the cart, looking back at his fallen cohorts. "Hey, what happened?" He and a man from the other side of the cart walked over to check on their friends, looked at each other in confusion, and then looked over at Aiko, only to instantly pass out as well.

"What in the blazes?" The last bandit asked, walking around from tending the horse and attempting to wake the others. He looked over at Aiko suspiciously, before falling unconscious himself.

Aiko wiggled her wrists slightly, quickly working herself free of the ropes with an escape jutsu before sitting up, removing the gag from around over her mouth and untying the rope around her ankles. She picked up a piece of rope and began tying up one of the bandits, looking up with a friendly (and slightly smug) smile as the rather stunned Team 7 approached her.

"Good afternoon." She greeted mildly, as if they were about to share lunch, "I take it you are Konoha-nin sent to deal with these people?"

"Er, yes..." Kakashi managed, looking a bit bewildered at the five unconscious men and the perfectly conscious and unharmed target of their mission. "How did you...?"

Aiko smirked and held up her hand in a sign, "Casting genjutsu only requires one hand. These guys have no knowledge of how to release themselves from one. All the same, please help me tie them up before it wears off."

"I was under the impression that you weren't trained as a shinobi." Sasuke remarked as he and his team moved forward to help her.

"I'm not trained to the level of you three." Aiko replied, "I know very little ninjutsu and my shuriken jutsu is entirely self-taught, but I am a genjutsu type by nature, so what training I've had has been focused primarily on that. I've also learned escape jutsu, in case of situations like today. Albeit, it's not as if these guys got the better of me. I got their attention and _let_ them capture me so that I could find their hideout to retrieve my neighbors' belongings. I didn't realize that ninja from Konoha were being sent, of course."

"You literally just did our C-rank mission for us." Sasuke deadpanned, "You've got to be at least about the same level as us."

Aiko shrugged, "My mother couldn't take any chances. Besides, I'm not supposed to reveal my abilities to the other people in the village, so it would be best if you guys acted like you actually did rescue me."

"Understood." Kakashi said with a nod.

Aiko looked over at Naruto and smiled at him, removing her glasses and tilting her head slightly, "It's nice to see you again, Naruto-kun. I don't suppose you remember me?"

"Hm?" Naruto, who had been uncharacteristically quiet up until now, looked up at the girl and studied her for a moment, before his eyes widened, "Hey! Didn't we once play together in the forest?"

"That's right." Aiko said with a nod, her expression turning nostalgic, "That was my last day in Konoha... I'm glad I got to spend it playing hide-and-seek with you."

"You were really good at it too." Naruto said with a nod as he remembered that day, and Aiko giggled as she slipped her glasses back on.

"My father taught me a lot about how to avoid being noticed when I didn't want to be."

愛の恵み

Soon the group arrived back in the village with the bandits in tow, along with everything they had previously stolen from the village. To celebrate this, the village decided to throw a party in honor of Team 7. As the preparations came underway, Aiko approached Sasuke timidly.

"Um... Sasuke-san? I have a favor to ask of you..."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, turning toward her slightly.

"Um... that crest, on your back... I recognize it. It's the crest of the Uchiha Clan, right? And I've heard that the Uchiha Clan were skilled in fire-style jutsu. My father... was also a fire type... Would you... would you mind using a fire-style jutsu to light the bonfire? It's been so long since..." Aiko trailed off, but Sasuke understood. He hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not to indulge her request to help her remember her father by using Fire Style. He himself preferred to avoid remembering his family, but...

"All right." Sasuke said with a nod.

Aiko watched as the villagers stood back to give Sasuke room to light the fire, activating her Sharingan beneath her glasses and watching his every move.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was speaking to Megumi back at her home. "She has the Sharingan, doesn't she? Aiko, I mean." He said bluntly. Megumi looked at him in surprise.

"How did you...?"

"I remember you from the war." Kakashi remarked, "There was a big uproar when you, Megumi of the Shimura clan married Uchiha Nichi. I was also assigned to the ANBU unit that escorted you from the village the day that you left. It was a favor to... a former kouhai of mine."

"I see..." Megumi said before sighing quietly, "Yes. The reason why I requested your team specifically was because I had heard that Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto had been placed on the same team. Aiko befriended Naruto-kun on the day of my husband's death. It was a convenient excuse on Shimura Danzou's behalf to kill my husband. I wanted to give her the chance to see him again. I also wanted to give her the chance to interact with another member of her clan. But please understand, Kakashi, even Lord Third does not know where she and I are, so the fact that I commissioned this mission must remain an absolute secret."

"Understood." Kakashi said with a nod. Both he and Megumi turned and looked as they saw an orange glow alight in the night.

"What was that?" Mayumi asked in confusion.

"Sasuke probably used his Ookakyuu no Jutsu to light the bonfire." Kakashi remarked.

Megumi sighed, "That child... I'll bet she asked him to do that just so she could use her Sharingan to copy it because she's never been taught how to use Fire Style..."

A bonfire was blazing in the village square as everyone hurried about, preparing to celebrate Team 7's successful defeat of the bandits who'd been plaguing them, never knowing it had actually been Aiko.

The young girl in question hummed to herself as she carried a small tray of sweets for the celebration when noticed Sasuke staring into the bonfire that he had ignited with his Ookakyuu no jutsu. "Sasuke-san!" She chirped cheerfully as she walked over to him with the tray in her hands, "Would you like some dango? They're my specialty!" In reality, Aiko had become skilled at making them because they were Itachi's favorite snack.

Sasuke glanced at the dumplings and then glared at Aiko. "I don't do sweets." He said bluntly, causing Aiko's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Hey, you jerk!" Naruto exclaimed from where he was standing nearby, "Don't say mean things to—" The blond was interrupted by Aiko suddenly punching Sasuke's jaw with enough force that he tumbled to the ground.

"It's fine if you don't like them, but that's not an excuse to be rude about it!" She exclaimed furiously, not even noticing that several of the villagers were staring at her in shock. Sasuke sat up and wiped the corner of his mouth, eyes gleaming, and then he got up and charged at Aiko. Anybody else, Naruto included, would've been caught off guard by the preteen boy's speed, but Aiko's Sharingan had already activated beneath her mirrored glasses because of her anger, so it wasn't an issue for her. She easily blocked Sasuke's primary attack and prepared to counter him.

"What's going on?!" Sakura exclaimed in alarm as she took notice of the situation.

"Sasuke was rude to Aiko-chan, so Aiko-chan punched him, and now they're going at it." Naruto explained.

"Going at it" was something of an understatement. Aiko and Sasuke were easily matching everything the other threw at them. Sasuke had even resorted to activating his Sharingan.

"Amazing..." Sakura said softly, "She's actually keeping up with Sasuke-kun!"

"I'm glad I'm not the one who ticked her off." Naruto agreed.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance. This girl was stronger than she should be. He wasn't willing to resort to using fire style on a civilian girl who didn't know ninjutsu, but... he reached into his holster and threw two kunai at Aiko, followed by three shuriken. Aiko leapt up and inexplicably managed to catch _both_ of the kunai by their hilts before using the one in her right hand to block the shuriken. Seriously?! Just what kind of eyesight and reflexes did this girl have?! Aiko's own ninja tools were back at her house, but she had just made up for that by catching the two kunai. She could easily use one as a projectile if she wished and keep the other for defense, which she apparently planned to do, since she shoved the one in her left hand beneath her sash so that it wouldn't be in the way.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in annoyance. If Shuriken Jutsu and Taijutsu didn't work, then... Sasuke focused his chakra, the tomoe in his eyes spinning as he cast a genjutsu. He couldn't do anything that would seriously injure Aiko, considering that her mother was technically their client, but he _was_ going to teach this girl not to mess with an Uchiha.

In front of him, Aiko was struggling, having gotten caught tangled up in various vines that had sprouted from the ground and Sasuke smirked, moving forward and placing his kunai to her neck. "I win."

Aiko smirked back. "Are you sure about that?" She asked.

Suddenly Sasuke realized that their positions had been somehow reversed. _He_ was the one caught in the vines and _she_ was the one holding the kunai.

"What?!" The raven-haired boy exclaimed.

Aiko grinned at him. "Just because you have the Sharingan, don't assume that automatically makes you superior in genjutsu. Remember that I'm a genjutsu type by nature. I can see through them just as easily as I can cast them."

"What is going on here?!" Megumi's voice suddenly broke through the crowd. Aiko's expression changed to one of surprise mixed with dread and she quickly released Sasuke from the genjutsu while putting some distance between them. Megumi had heard the disturbance from their home on the outskirts of the village and had come to investigate.

"Aiko, come here." The woman demanded. Aiko gulped, knowing that she was in huge trouble and would only be more so if she tried to refuse, so she walked over to her mother. Megumi whipped Aiko's glasses off her nose, carefully placing her hands at the sides of her daughter's face to block anyone from seeing as she took in the sight of Aiko's fully mature Sharingan shining brightly. She glared sternly at her daughter before placing the glasses back on her face.

"Sasuke, what happened?" Kakashi demanded as the boy reluctantly walked over to the jonin, who was standing next to Megumi.

"She hit me first." Sasuke said bluntly, as if that was the only defense he needed.

Aiko turned her head and glared at him, "You started it! You should've just said 'no thank you' if you didn't want any!"

"I don't care which one of you started it!" Mayumi exclaimed furiously, as if she was breaking up a fight between two siblings. She grabbed both Uchiha children by the ear and dragged them toward her house.

"Ow!" Sasuke yelped, hoping it would make the woman let him go. Aiko didn't bother to complain.

"I think Aiko's mom might be scarier than she is." Naruto remarked. Sakura nodded in confoundment. Kakashi sighed in exasperation and followed Megumi.

"What in the world were the two of you thinking?!" Megumi demanded of both children, now seated in front of her, whether they wanted to be or not, "Aiko, you _know_ that the people of this village think that we are ordinary civilians; we can't maintain that story if you go around picking fights with shinobi! And Sasuke-kun, I _know_ Mikoto taught you better than that!"

At this, Sasuke looked slightly surprised, "'Kaasan...?"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun, I knew your mother." Megumi replied in frustration, "She was a good friend of mine, and I know she taught you how to _politely_ decline food that you don't want. And I will thank you to remember that I _am_ undercover here and it's kind of hard to maintain that cover if you go head-to-head with my daughter!"

"Megumi-san is right, Sasuke. Getting into fights with Aiko could put her and her mother in danger." Kakashi warned.

"Besides, I only hit you _once_." Aiko said with a glare, "I've seen Sakura-san punch Naruto-kun at least five times today, and you don't see _him_ hitting back."

"Don't act like this isn't partially your fault, Aiko!" Megumi exclaimed before sighing in exasperation. "I swear, you're both... Ugh!" She threw her hands up in the air, knowing she couldn't afford to finish her thought. "Fine then! Since neither of you can control your tempers, you can stay here tonight and cook your own dinner _and_ clean up afterward!"

Sasuke glared and opened his mouth to protest, "You're not my-"

"Do _not_ test me, Sasuke-kun!" She cut him off, "I might not be Uchiha, but my best friend was, and I have more than enough experience sparring against the Sharingan to take on a rookie genin!" Sasuke blinked in surprise and Megumi sighed as she turned to Kakashi, "Kakashi-san, I need your help to go clean up this mess with my neighbors." Kakashi hummed in confirmation and Megumi glared at the two preteens before her. "You two _better not_ end up setting this house on fire!" And with that, the two adults were gone, leaving the twelve-year-old cousins to herself.

Sasuke leveled a glare at Aiko. "Just how bad is your cooking that she would say that?"

Aiko resisted the urge to smack him again... barely. "She was referring to Katon, not my cooking." She said in annoyance as she stood up to head for the kitchen, "That being said, cooking is not a skill that comes naturally to me, so if you distract me too much, I really will end up setting something on fire."

"Just let me cook, then." Sasuke said, "I've been doing it for years. Unlike you, I can't rely on my mother to cook for me."

Aiko snorted, "What are you kidding?" She asked incredulously, "My mother is more of a fire-hazard in the kitchen than _I_ am. The first year or so out here was... difficult... to say the least."

愛の恵み

The next morning, Aiko stood with her mother at the village edge to see Team 7 off.

"Before you go, I have something I need to say." Megumi said.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked, and Megumi walked forward to the three genin.

"Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura-chan, I have a warning for the three of you. Beware the Urei no Juugoya." She told the three of them gravely.

"The 'Harvest Moon of Sorrow'?" Sakura asked, "What do you mean?"

Megumi turned and looked up at the sky, where the moon could be faintly seen in the daylight, "Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi on the night of Juugoya." She turned and looked at them sadly, "My husband also died on that night, seven years later." She looked back at the moon, her expression distant. "My husband was a hobbyist historian. He once told me that he believed that Konoha was cursed by the full moon because many of the clans that reside there are descendants of a woman who was sealed within the moon itself. He believed that the curse was strongest on Juugoya because that is when the moon is most visible, and therefore, it was the time when Konoha was most likely to be struck by tragedy... When he first told me this, I thought he was just being superstitious... but then he died... on the night of the Harvest Moon." She turned and looked at the children sadly again, "He said that the curse most strongly affected the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki, for... difficult reasons. Your team has members of both clans, so you three must be vigilant, or tragedy will surely befall you. My husband once said, 'Urei no juugoya ga subete ubaisatte yuku'... The Harvest Moon of Sorrow will snatch away everything."

Naruto gulped and Sakura drew her arms in toward herself. "That's rather ominous..." The young kunoichi managed.

Megumi nodded to Sakura and then turned to Kakashi, "And you make sure to watch out for them. You're the only one who can."

Kakashi nodded gravely, "I will."

* * *

I originally planned to make this chapter longer, with a rather lengthy discussion between Mayumi and Itachi after Team 7 left, but I felt that the content was not necessary for the story because it's already explained in the main series. Also, "Urei no juugoya ga subette ubaisatte yuku" more accurately means "The Harvest Moon of Sorrow (or sorrowful harvest moon) is snatching everything away".


	4. The Will of Fire

"Itachi-niichan, you said you had something to tell me?" Aiko asked as she sat down next to where Itachi was resting in her home. Itachi didn't direct his gaze at her, but Aiko was more than aware that Itachi had long since lost his eyesight. How he managed to navigate the world like that, she didn't know. Nonetheless, Itachi turned his head toward her, unaware as Aiko bit her lip to withhold her sadness at seeing him so weak.

"Yes... Aiko-chan, this is probably the last time that I will ever come to visit you and your mother. Before my time ends, there is one last thing about the Sharingan that I need to teach you."

"One last thing?" Aiko asked in confusion, and Itachi nodded.

"There is... a more advanced form of the Sharingan, although I hope you will never awaken it. The Mangekyou Sharingan."

"Mangekyou Sharingan?" Aiko repeated, having never heard of such a thing, and Itachi nodded again.

"Very few Uchiha have ever awakened it, and the reason is... in order to do so, you must kill your best friend." He explained, and Aiko gasped.

"But that would mean... Itachi-niichan, did you really...?"

"Yes." Itachi replied while turning his head back toward the ceiling, "I killed Shisui... Although he would've died that night, even if I hadn't."

"What do you mean?" Aiko asked.

"It was as your mother had inferred. Shisui had been poisoned by somebody who wanted to take his eyes." Itachi explained, "There was no way to save him. All I could was to end his pain more quickly..."

Aiko's eyes filled with understanding and she gently placed her hand on top of Itachi's, "Then you aren't the one that killed him. The person who poisoned him is to blame. Perhaps... perhaps this Mangekyou Sharingan is not awakened by the action of killing someone you care for, but by the emotional trauma of witnessing their death. People often blame themselves in such circumstances."

"Perhaps you are right." Itachi said, "Regardless, I hope that you never awaken that power, but in case you do, there are some things that I should explain to you. First, the abilities of the Mangekyou Sharingan are different for every user, and sometimes are different for each eye. My left eye can cast the Tsukuyomi, while my right can ignite the black flames of Amaterasu. Second, if someone possesses the Mangekyou in both eyes, they are able to use the chakra armor known as Susano'o, which can protect you from nearly anything. Finally, overusing the Mangekyou Sharingan will cause your eyesight to deteriorate. That is why I can no longer see. It puts too much strain on the optic nerve. If you ever do awaken it, you must avoid using it unless absolutely necessary."

"I understand." Aiko said with a nod.

"Now, there are some things which I must warn you about, which pertain to the days that lie ahead of you..."

愛の恵み

It was several weeks later when somebody suddenly rode into the village with disturbing news.

"The Five Great Nations are going to war!" The man said, not even stopping to breathe as he dismounted from his horse.

"Against each other?" A woman gasped fearfully, but the man shook his head.

"No, they are forming something called the Shinobi Alliance to stand united against a common enemy. Apparently, a man called Uchiha Madara has declared war against the entire Shinobi World!"

"Uchiha Madara...?" Aiko gasped quietly, standing near the very back of the crowd.

"There... there's more!" The man exclaimed, "Uchiha Sasuke attacked the Five Kage Summit, and it seems that he is after the head of the Sixth Hokage, Lord Shimura Danzou!"

Aiko's expression went from bewildered to a mixture of confusion and anger, and as the villagers clamored amongst themselves, she slipped unnoticed through the buildings and back to her own home. Her mother Megumi jumped slightly in surprise when Aiko suddenly threw the door open, her glasses in her hand and her Sharingan blazing with anger.

"Why is Uchiha Sasuke after the Sixth Hokage?" She demanded, "And why did he kill Itachi-niichan? Answer me, Okaasan. I _know_ you know what's going on!"

Megumi sighed softly, averting her eyes just in case her daughter got a little _too_ angry and began to answer her. "Aiko, either calm down or put your glasses back on. I know I don't have to tell you the reason why. As for why Sasuke-kun is doing all of this... It's not something you should concern yourself with."

"Like heck it isn't!" Aiko snapped, "Uchiha Sasuke is a member of my clan and he's running around, acting like a freaking terrorist while Uchiha Madara—who _should_ be dead—has gone and declared war on the entire ninja world!"

"Aiko, you are not a member of the Uchiha. You know that I renounced that name on your behalf when your father died."

"Tell that to my _eyes_ , Okaasan!"

Megumi sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Sasuke-kun aside, this man calling himself Madara is obviously a fraud. Uchiha Madara is dead, of that I am certain. His battle with the First Hokage took place nearly eighty years ago. Even if he survived it, it's just not possible that he's still alive."

"And yet, there must be some reason why the Five Kage all believe that it's him!" Aiko pointed out, and her mother shook her head.

"Perhaps he has a Sharingan that he stole from a clan member in the past. That would likely be enough for them, or at least enough for him to... No... come to think of it, Itachi once told me that there was a rogue member of the Uchiha who was the true leader of the organization he had infiltrated..." The woman moved to massaging her temples, "Regardless, I can't answer your questions about Sasuke-kun. There are just some things that you shouldn't know."

Aiko growled, glaring at her mother, "Fine!" She replaced her glasses on her face and then turned and stormed off, and Megumi sighed, shaking her head as she returned to what she was doing. But for all her ability to predict other people's behavior, she couldn't predict what her daughter did next.

愛の恵み

That night, Aiko rose from her bed, got dressed and slipped through the house. Upon reaching the entryway, she slipped on her sandals and then placed a small scroll on the cabinet to the side before she quietly slipped outside. She made her way to a cave near the pond where she had often trained. Activating her Sharingan in order to see, she moved toward the back of the small cave and found the small collection of ninja tools that she had compiled over the years. She pulled her hair up into a bun, secured the shuriken holster to her right thigh, and secured a pouch to her waist before hurrying out.

The next morning, when Megumi awoke, she immediately noticed that her daughter was not in the house. She hurried to the entryway, and then noticed the scroll and opened it.

 _Dear Okaasan,_

 _If you won't tell me the truth about what happened to my clan, then I have no choice but to find out for myself. I'm going to track down Sasuke-san and ask him to explain all of this to me! Don't worry. I don't hate you, and I never could. I will return as soon as find the answers I need._

 _Love,_ _Aiko_

Megumi's eyes widened, and she immediately fled back to her room to grab her supplies.

愛の恵み

Aiko yawned as she ran down the path through the forest. She had never been up all night before. Her plan was relatively simple: If Uchiha Sasuke was pursuing Shimura Danzou, and Danzou was on his way back from the Five Kage Summit, then that would mean that both were taking a road that led from the Land of Iron to Konoha in the Land of Fire. Therefore, if she took a path that led to the Land of Iron, she would undoubtedly intercept them. She had memorized her route with her Sharingan and then set out, but now... She sighed and sat down next to a tree, head drooping in exhaustion. It wasn't going to do her any good to catch up to Sasuke if she collapsed in exhaustion the moment she got there. _'If I take too long though, I'll miss my chance... just a short nap, and then I'll keep going.'_ She thought to herself before allowing herself to fall asleep.

愛の恵み

A few hours later, Aiko awoke to the sound of footsteps and laughter. She gasped and woke up, seeing a group of men approaching her.

"Look guys, this little lady thinks she's a ninja." One of them remarked. Aiko frowned and reached for her holster.

"Think she's from Konoha?" Another asked.

"No way." Said a third, "She doesn't have a headband anywhere on her. Besides, what kind of ninja falls asleep under a tree by the side of the road? And don't they usually travel in groups?"

"That's true." The first remarked, "Even those Akatsuki guys go two-by-two."

Aiko's eyes narrowed at the mention of Akatsuki and she withdrew a kunai as she moved into a crouching position to be able to spring if necessary. A fourth man laughed at her. "You even know how to use that, little girl? Weapons aren't something you play with."

Aiko's eyes drifted to the fifth member of the group as he chuckled, "Let's take her with us. Maybe we can have some fun with her. If not, we can sell her."

Without hesitation, Aiko activated her Sharingan and attacked, lunging for the man most directly in front of her. The man stepped aside, attempting to grab hold of Aiko's wrist to counter her, but she swiftly moved, hitting him with an upper roundhouse to the chin instead. She hadn't spent years learning Taijutsu from Itachi and training on her own for nothing.

The other four looked a bit stunned as their friend was knocked back and Aiko balanced herself to focus. Four men. Each expecting her to come at them. Using her Sharingan to cast genjutsu wouldn't work this time. The moment one fell, the others would charge at her. She wouldn't have time to catch all of them. Ninjutsu was her best bet; if she used Ookakyuu no jutsu... Aiko moved to return her kunai, but then stopped herself. No. Ookakyuu no jutsu was certainly an effective technique, but it was also one used nearly exclusively by the Uchiha Clan. Resorting to that would risk exposing her lineage. That said, civilians weren't supposed to know Ninjutsu to begin with. With genjutsu also out of the question, taijutsu was the only option she had left. She could only hope that the enhanced kinetic vision of the Sharingan would be enough to take them all...

"Why you!"

Aiko snapped out of her thoughts as the man she had attacked first charged at her, and she dodged him. Before she had time to process further, the encounter had turned to a flurry of attacks on all sides that had her just barely dodging each attempt to knock her out or murder her. There was no room for a counterattack, and while Itachi might've been far more skilled than any of these guys, there had never been five of him!

Suddenly a chain wrapped around Aiko's ankle from behind her, and with a cry of alarm, she fell backward. The men laughed, thinking that they finally had the young woman, but then suddenly the one who had caught her let out a grunt of pain before he suddenly crumpled forward, a kunai in his back. Aiko looked up in surprise to see her mother standing there, wearing her Konoha headband and glaring venomously at the men. "Okaasan..."

"Reckless child..." Megumi breathed out as she straightened up, glaring at the men whilst Aiko freed her ankle, "You lot. If you don't want to suffer the same fate as your friend, I suggest you leave, now. Don't bother trying to save him. I made sure to pierce his vital organs." The four men glared at her as Megumi stepped slightly in front of Aiko, who was now on her feet, "Aiko... Attacking somebody with the intent to kill them is not something you have ever had to learn. For that reason, do not try to join this fight."

Aiko let out a soft sound of confirmation and then watched as her mother darted forward, battling the four men with a fury she hadn't known the woman was capable of. _'But I should've.'_ Aiko chided herself inwardly, _''Okaasan_ _ **did**_ _fight in the last war. The readiness to put her life on the line in battle... She learned that, but I didn't...'_ Aiko watched her mother anxiously. Megumi had already slain one of her opponents, but there were still three left, and...

"Okaasan!" Aiko cried out in warning as she saw one of the men attempting to stab her from behind. Mayumi tried to dodge, but the weapon still found her skin, and with a cry, she fell to the ground. "Okaasan!" Aiko screamed in horror. In that moment, it was as if the world around her had faded and something suddenly clicked; if your opponents were dead, they wouldn't be able to tell anyone that you knew the generational ninjutsu of a supposedly extinct clan. With that in mind, she darted forward, her hands forming the signs rapidly. "Katon! Ookakyuu no jutsu!" She exhaled the flames at point-blank range. They passed right over her mother, but completely engulfed the three men. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason, in that moment, Aiko was deaf to their screams.

When the three charred bodies fell lifelessly on the ground, Aiko immediately turned back to her mother. "Okaasan!" She cried, kneeling next to her mother to examine the wound that her mother was weakly grasping at. "I-It's okay... It's not deep! I think I can stitch it up!"

"No... Aiko... you can't... Poison..." Megumi managed. Aiko felt the world freeze for a second time. A flesh wound she could treat, but poison... Her mind raced, and she quickly made her decision. Without a word, she picked up her mother and began running.

"A-Aiko..."

"Don't speak. Conserve your strength." Aiko told her, "I've memorized a map of this area. There's a cave nearby. It's safe there."

Megumi said nothing, secretly marveling at her fast-thinking daughter as Aiko swiftly carried her through the forest to the cave she had spoken of. Upon reaching it, she set her mother down, using a pack to cushion her head.

"Just wait here for me." Aiko said to her mother.

"Where...?"

"I'm going to Konoha." Aiko told her mother firmly, "Even if I could take you home in time, I doubt the doctor there knows how to deal with poison. If I go to Konoha, I can get a medical ninja to help you."

"Aiko, no... It's too... dangerous... for you..." Megumi pleaded.

"I don't care. I lost Papa, I won't lose you too." She reached forward and untied her mother's headband, "I won't let anyone know who I really am. I'll just find help."

Megumi could do nothing to stop her daughter as she departed from the cave.

愛の恵み

Aiko rushed through the forest, making a beeline for Konoha. She felt a bit confused when she arrived at where the A-un Gate should've been. There was no gate to speak of, and... what exactly had happened to Konoha? It looked like it was being rebuilt from the ground up. Aiko vaguely remembered hearing about a major attack on the village recently, and then shook her head to clear it, instead rushing forward in pursuit of her goal. "Help!"

"Huh?" One of the shinobi who was guarding where the A-un Gate should've been looked over at her.

"Please help me!" Aiko cried again as she ran up to him.

"What's the matter?" He asked her.

"Please, it's my mother. We encountered bandits along the road to the west of here. One of them struck her with a poisoned blade! I... I can treat simple wounds, but poison..."

The guard blinked, and then looked at his fellow guard, "Take her to Shizune-san."

"Shizune...?" Aiko asked in confusion.

"Shizune-san is overseeing the village until the Hokage returns." The man explained.

Aiko nodded slightly and followed the guard.

愛の恵み

"Please, help me." Aiko pleaded when she was brought to Shizune. She pulled out her mother's headband, "My... my mother was a special jonin here before we moved away when I was young. She's all I have. If I have to, I'll commission a mission."

"What should I do?" Shizune lamented, "Lady Tsunade is still unconscious, Sakura-chan is away, and I can't leave the village right now..."

"But, couldn't you send someone else?" Nara Shikamaru asked, having been nearby when Aiko was brought to Shizune, "It's not like you three are the only medical ninja in the village. There's gotta be someone you can send, right? It's not like we're having to deal with a lot of our own being injured right now..." At Aiko's confused look, he turned to her and explained, "Actually, only Lady Fifth is still physically recovering from the recent attack. Everyone else is fine."

"That's true." Shizune said with a nod before turning back to Aiko, "There aren't any other ninja in the village who are as skilled with poison as Lady Tsunade, Sakura-chan, or I, but I can send one of our other medics with you. As long as the poison isn't too complex, they should be able to help your mother."

"I understand, thank you." Aiko said with a nod.

Shizune turned and looked at Shikamaru, "Shikamaru-san, would you accompany them? That will make it a two-man cell."

"Yeah, sure." Shikamaru said with a nod.

愛の恵み

"I'm sorry... there's nothing I can do..."

Aiko stared at the medic with wide eyes. "What?"

"I'm not familiar with this poison. None of the usual antidotes have proven correct. If... If Sakura-san were here, she could've... but..."

"But... but you're a iryouninja! How is it you can't treat poison from the knife of a common bandit?!" Aiko exclaimed.

"Perhaps he bought in the underground market..." The medic told her nervously, "At any rate, it's beyond my ability to treat."

"Then... then... Let's send a message to Konoha and ask for someone else!" Aiko cried desperately.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but the only people who could treat a poison not included in the standard training for iryouninja are Lady Tsunade, Shizune-san, and Sakura-san, and you know that..." He trailed off, not having to remind Aiko that none of the aforementioned women were available. "At any rate, even if there were someone else, by the time they could get here, she'll already..."

The teenager sat back in disbelief, "No..."

"I'm sorry." The medic apologized. "I'll... I'll let you be alone with her now..." The iryouninja stood up and walked toward the entrance of the cave, where Shikamaru was waiting. Aiko sniffled and lifted her glasses, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Aiko..." Megumi said weakly, reaching her hand toward her daughter. Aiko quickly grasped it with both of her own.

"Okaasan! I'm sorry... I'm so sorry! If... If I hadn't run off in search of answers..."

"No, Aiko..." Megumi managed, "Don't apologize. I should've told you the truth. Please allow me to now, before it is too late." The brunette sniffled and nodded, eyes trained on her mother's face as if she might somehow forget it. "The man... that Sasuke is trying to kill... Shimura Danzou... He is the villain responsible for the destruction of your father's clan... as well as... the death of your father himself..."

"What... what do you mean?" Aiko asked nervously.

Megumi exhaled, closing her eyes as she recounted what happened, "The First Hokage's closest friend... Was Uchiha Madara... However, his younger brother, Senju Tobirama, who was the Second Hokage, hated the Uchiha Clan. That hatred was not entirely his fault. It was something that had been passed through many generations of both clans. However, Shimura Danzou was the Second Hokage's student, and he inherited his teacher's hatred for the Uchiha. He sought to oppress the Uchiha, and to eventually destroy them. He found his excuse when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, on the night of Juugoya... nearly seventeen years ago. Because tailed beasts can be controlled by the Sharingan, he fueled the rumor that the Uchiha were somehow responsible... And used that as an excuse to ostracize them from the rest of Konoha. The Uchiha were naturally angry... but Danzou used that against them... purposefully oppressing the Uchiha more and more... until they felt that they could no longer support Konoha. The clan was planning a coup d'tat, even before your father died. I had no say and your father did not approve, but... voicing his disagreement was too dangerous. That was why your father and I had planned to leave Konoha... to protect you. Danzou had always hated our family in particular, because I left the Shimura clan when I married your father. The man who killed Nichi... was Danzou's subordinate. You bringing Naruto to the compound that night... was a convenient excuse, nothing more. And in truth, I think... your father would have preferred it, to what would have been... if we had stayed..."

"Huh?" Aiko asked, her eyes filled with confusion and her mind swirling at all of this information.

"About a year after we left... the plans for the coup were finalized... Konohagakure... and the Uchiha Clan... were both in grave danger... If the coup occurred, Konoha would've been heavily damaged... and there would have been many, many casualties. It would also have been vulnerable to attacks from outside... Moreover, the Uchiha Clan would most certainly have been erased from existence. Danzou used these facts... to persuade Itachi-kun. If the village publicly turned against the Uchiha, it would have created unrest, but... if an Uchiha went rogue and destroyed his clan... peace could be preserved. To persuade Itachi-kun to take on this role... Danzou used Sasuke-kun. He promised Itachi-kun that if he killed everyone else, Sasuke-kun would be allowed to live... In this instance, he was using Itachi-kun's affection for his brother against him, but... there was a bigger picture. If Sasuke-kun was spared, the clan would still have a future... and so Itachi-kun accepted the mission..." Aiko's eyes widened in shock, but her mother gravely continued, "I suspect... that no shinobi has ever carried out... such a painful mission... as Itachi-kun did that night... For that reason... he made _sure_ that Sasuke-kun knew that it was him... Dying by Sasuke-kun's hand was his only wish... He battled that illness for so long, only for that reason... I suspect that Sasuke-kun has since learned of the truth... and that is why he is now after Danzou..." Megumi opened her eyes again and looked at her daughter, "Listen to me, Aiko... No matter what... you must not go after Sasuke-kun or Shimura Danzou... Even I cannot predict what Sasuke-kun's reaction to your relation might be... but... if Danzou learns that you are still alive... that you are very much your father's daughter... he will do whatever it takes to kill you."

"I don't understand..." Aiko said slowly as tears streamed down her face, her eyes drifting toward her lap, "How did this man become Hokage? He doesn't know anything about the Will of Fire that you taught me about..."

Megumi closed her eyes again, "I suspect that Danzou... used the eye that he had stolen from Shisui... to obtain that position."

Aiko's eyes widened, "Then... the person truly responsible for Shisui-senpai's death..."

"Yes." Megumi said, trying to relax her body a bit. "No matter what you do from here on out, Aiko, do not return to Konoha as long as Danzou lives. I don't care how many years it will be. And lastly... whatever you do... do not seek revenge or allow yourself to be filled with hatred, as Sasuke-kun has."

Aiko looked confused, "Why would you...?"

"The Uchiha have long suffered from a curse of hatred." Megumi explained, "In the past, they allowed their anger to turn to bitterness... and then to hatred, and that, ultimately, destroyed them." She smiled wryly, "But you are different. You are only half-Uchiha. Your father and I came from two clans who despised each other, and yet we loved one another. It was our hope that our love would live on in you, and would never be turned to hatred. That is why we named you 'Aiko'. A child of love who would not allow herself to be tainted by the hatred of her ancestors..."

Aiko closed her eyes and nodded. "I understand... no matter what happens, I will hold yours and Papa's wishes in my heart."

Megumi smiled weakly, "Please bring Shikamaru-san. I need to ask something of him."

Aiko nodded slowly and stood up, going to the entrance of the cave before returning with Shikamaru.

"What's up?" Shikamaru asked with grievous expression, and Megumi looked up at him, smiling weakly.

"I have a request of you, Nara Shikamaru. I believe my daughter already told you that I was once a special jonin, although it's more correct to say that I _am_ a special jonin. We left Konoha when my husband was killed, but now..." She closed her eyes and exhaled, "I have a final wish. I want to be buried in Konoha's graveyard, as my husband was. And I want... to bear my married name... one last time."

"Who was your husband?" Shikamaru asked.

"His name... was Uchiha Nichi..." Megumi managed, "He died protecting the Will of Fire, one year before..."

Shikamaru's eyes widened in shock and he looked at Aiko, "Then... you're..."

"Yes." Megumi interrupted him, causing the teenaged Chuunin to look back at her, "I have been on a long-term mission for the past ten years, given to me by the Third Hokage."

"A mission?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought.

"Yes. In accordance with the Will of Fire, I was given a mission to protect my daughter, a descendant of the Uchiha, from those... who would seek to harm her... for no reason." Megumi explained, "Lady Tsunade was likely aware of this fact, but even Lord Third... never knew where we've been this past decade, as that was his will. If he did not know, nobody else could find out either." Shikamaru nodded in understanding, catching the hidden meaning there, and Megumi turned her eyes to her daughter, reaching up and cupping Aiko's cheek. "I suppose my mission ends here, my darling. No matter what happens from here on, I beg of you, live, love, and someday... pass the Will of Fire... on to my grandchild."

Aiko sniffled and nodded, making a small sound of confirmation. With that, Megumi breathed one last breath and then became still. Aiko sniffled again as she gently lay her mother's hand on her body and stared at her. "Shikamaru-san, I also have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, looking concerned.

Aiko took a shuddering breath, and then explained her wish, "Because he died while protecting me, my father's name is engraved upon Konoha's memorial stone. Now my mother has also died so that I might live. Please see to it that her name is added there as well. All that we've asked of you must be done almost in secrecy, and without fanfare, but..."

"I understand." Shikamaru said with a nod. "My old man and I will take care of it."

Aiko nodded again and tried to dry her tears. Despite that, they were still falling as she watched Shikamaru and the iryouninja leave to return to Konoha with her mother's body, but there was something more. In addition to the tears she could not stop, she could feel her eyes throbbing. It wasn't unusual that she was unable to deactivate her Sharingan in times of emotional turmoil, but this was different; it was stronger. Confused, Aiko turned her back to the departing ninja and pulled out a small hand mirror. She took off her glasses and gasped at what she saw there. The appearance of her Sharingan had changed.

愛の恵み

Aiko leapt through the trees, heading back to Yamasato, when she suddenly heard a cry of alarm. She stopped, quickly suppressing her presence. She was near the spot where she'd been attacked earlier and while she had been avoiding the main road, she now felt the urge to investigate. She stealthily leapt through the trees, her eyes narrowing at the sight of a scruffy man who was staring at the two corpses and three charred bodies from earlier.

"What happened to you guys?!" He exclaimed in terror, "You were just supposed to be kidnapping _one_ girl! How could you have all been killed?"

Aiko rolled her eyes. In her mind, the "how" was pretty obvious. One had been stabbed in his vital organs, another had been slashed through the torso with a kunai, and the other three had obviously been roasted. She ignored that matter though as she jumped down from the tree.

"So..." She began, startling the man as he turned to look at her, "These idiots from earlier were your comrades?"

The man backed away fearfully, "You're... you're..."

"The girl you were apparently hired to kidnap? Yes." The man's knees were shaking as Aiko slowly approached him. "I don't care about that, though." She said as she walked forward, "What I want to know is who hired you and your comrades to abduct me, what they wanted with me, and where did your comrade obtain that poisoned knife?"

The man fell on his butt as Aiko stood over him, "W-We were just told to kidnap you and kill whoever tried to get in our way..." He told her, "We were told we could do whatever we wanted with you afterward."

"That only answers _one_ of my questions." Aiko said dangerously, " _Who_ told you to kidnap me and _where_ did that knife come from?"

The man met her gaze as he looked at her with a hint of defiance, "There's nothing you can do to me that would be worse than what _they'll_ do if I talk."

Aiko snorted, "I hope you remember saying that when I'm done."

Suddenly, the world around them turned to a red sky, black clouds, and generally nothing being the right color. The man looked around fearfully at this, suddenly realizing that he was tied to a stake.

"This is the world of Tsukuyomi." Aiko said as she appeared before the man, "In this world, I control everything: time, space, and matter."

The man trembled where he was tied, "T-Tsukuyomi? But that's the infamous genjutsu of Uchiha Itachi!"

Aiko smirked, "He was my mentor." She said simply. She suspected that this man didn't know enough about the Sharingan to know that Tsukuyomi wasn't something that could be taught, or even that it required one to be of Uchiha blood.

"Th-the student of U-Uchiha... Itachi...?" The man managed, shaking visibly.

"It seems you're taking me a bit more seriously now." Aiko said, her face and voice devoid of emotion. That was a skill she had learned from Itachi. "Since you were apparently so unnerved by the manner in which I killed your comrades, I'll give you a taste of their fate. In the real world, it will only be one second, but here, for the next 72 hours, I will burn you alive with my teacher's fire style."

"W-Wait! I'll tell you everything I know! Please!" The man pleaded.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that." Aiko said flatly, "I've already obtained the information I wished to know." Without another word, she blew a fireball at him.

A second later in the real world, the man crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Aiko sighed, ignoring the pain in her eyes as she deactivated her Sharingan and moved over to the bandit. Despite what she had put him through, he was still alive. There were ways to kill someone using the Tsukuyomi, but she hadn't even contemplated going that far. Really, she could've obtained the information she wanted without using such extremes, but she had wanted to make the man pay for the other crimes that he and his cohorts had no doubt committed. She pulled the bandit's unconscious form over to a tree and began tying him to it when she heard a familiar voice and didn't bother to care whether it was in her head or not this time.

"Why not kill him for what his comrades did to your mother?" The voice, which sounded like stone grinding on stone, asked her.

Aiko snorted, "That's rich, coming from the one who hired them to kidnap me and gave them the knife they used to kill her in the first place. I'm sure you'd like nothing better than for me to kill him and take revenge for her, but that's not going to happen. I promised my mother, father, and Itachi-niichan that I wouldn't allow myself to become consumed by hatred. No matter what, I won't allow the Will of Fire that they kindled within my heart to go out. I killed the other three for the sake of survival, not revenge. But this guy? He's still alive, so I'll let Konoha take care of him. I just knocked him out to ensure he wouldn't escape." She bent down in the ground and began writing a note.

"You didn't need to use the Tsukuyomi to do that." The voice pointed out.

"I did if I wanted to make sure he _stayed_ unconscious. How quickly a person recovers from a normal genjutsu is too unpredictable." Aiko said as she finished the note and folded it before biting her thumb and weaving a few signs. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" In a puff of smoke, a falcon appeared. Aiko placed the folded paper in a tube on its leg and let it hop on her arm. "Please deliver this to Konoha. I'm counting on you." She said before raising her arm to send the bird off.

"What will you do when Konoha realizes that he was subjected to the Tsukuyomi?" The voice asked.

"The only people capable of realizing that are Lady Tsunade and possibly Haruno Sakura." Aiko said calmly, "Beyond that, they won't, because I erased his memory of ever meeting me. He won't know what happened _himself_ when he's revived."

"As expected of Itachi's student." The voice acknowledged. Aiko rolled her eyes and continued on her way home.

* * *

I originally planned on breaking these chapters apart by era (Pre-anime, Naruto, Shippūden...), but ended up splitting this spotlight on Aiko's life during the Shippuden Era into two parts to avoid having it be too long. In case you are wondering, in Japanese, Aiko's name is 愛子, with the first character "Ai" meaning "love" and the second character "ko" meaning child. The kanji for her father Nichi's name could mean either "sun" or "day", but the way it is pronounced means day. Megumi's name means "blessing".

EDIT 01/20: I added in a little bit at the end where Aiko finds another bandit and learns the truth about her mother's death. The person she is talking to is Kurozetsu, who is targeting her again now that Itachi is gone. He arranged her mother's death in an attempt to make Aiko lose herself to the Curse of Hatred, viewing any Uchiha who resisted it as a threat.


	5. The Harvest Moon of Sorrow

Uchiha Sasuke exited the ruins of Nakano Shrine, followed by Hozuki Suigetsu, Juugo, Orochimaru, and the previous four Hokage. He stopped short, almost causing Suigetsu to bump into him, when he noticed a woman standing near the shrine's dilapidated _torii_ gate and staring up at the full moon, her long, dark hair partially concealed by the shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the Uchiha called out to the woman, "Who are you?"

She turned toward him, not seeming startled in the slightest, her black eyes shining in the moonlight. "It's been a long time, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes further in suspicion, "How do you know my name?"

She tilted her head slightly, seeming amused, "You came to my village once about five years ago on a mission to rescue me from bandits... only when you and your teammates arrived..."

"You had already used genjutsu to rescue yourself." Sasuke finished, realization dawning in his eyes, "Aiko."

From behind Sasuke, the Third Hokage's eyes widened at the young woman before him, "Aiko?! What are you doing here in Konoha?"

Aiko blinked in surprise at him, "Lord Third!" She exclaimed before smiling wanly, "A friend from my village, who is a merchant, brought me here with him. He thinks I've become a shut-in lately and that a change of scenery might do me some good."

"That doesn't answer the question of what you're doing _here_ though." Sasuke remarked, "Why have you come to Nakano Shrine? How long have you been here?"

Aiko sighed softly, "Since before you got here, actually. I had just arrived when I sensed your approach, so I hid in the trees and suppressed my chakra to conceal my presence. I'm good at not being noticed when I don't want to be. I have your older brother to thank for that."

Sasuke's eyes widened into saucers, "Itachi...? But how do you—"

"I've known your brother since I was a small child." Aiko answered him, "He was the person who saved me on the night of my father's death, ten years ago, and one of the few who knew about my mother's mission. After what happened with the clan... he sought my mother and I out and visited us every once in a while. Eventually he became my teacher. He said that it grounded him, having allies from Konoha who knew his secret. It helped him to avoid completely losing himself in his mission, to remember his reason for all of it. And he said that teaching me was a means for him to pass on the Will of Fire." She smiled sadly at Sasuke, "It was never my desire to keep all of this from you. The truth is, I didn't know the full story behind the Uchiha Clan's destruction myself until recently. Back then, Okaasan just told me not to mention Itachi-niichan to you, because he had been on his espionage mission for so long that bringing him up would upset you." The teenaged girl looked back at the full moon above them, "That said, although my friend did insist on my coming to Konoha with him, I can't say that I was averse to his suggestion. The truth is that I made a promise to your brother, that I would come here tonight. He said that the Akatsuki's plan would come to fruition tonight, and wanted me to take shelter in the underground chamber until the worst was over."

"He told you about that?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"Yes, but what does it matter?" Aiko asked him, "The Uchiha tablet cannot be read without the Sharingan, right? It's not as if I'll learn something I shouldn't by going down there."

"But, Aiko—" Hiruzen began.

"It's fine, Lord Third." Aiko told him, "I'm not in danger anymore." She smiled weakly at Sasuke again, "I have you, Sasuke-san, to thank for that."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, and Aiko's gaze drifted toward her feet.

"I haven't grown up here in Konoha, so I don't feel that I have a right to judge you for the choices you've made recently. Nor am I angry with you about Itachi-niichan's death. I can't be, when I know that he only lived as long as he did for the sake of dying by your hand. Besides, I promised both him and my mother that I would never allow hatred to consume me. That being said, when you killed Shimura Danzou, you saved me from a lifetime of terror, Sasuke-san, because he was the one who sought to take my life." At this, Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, and Aiko looked up at him, "That's why I chose to reveal myself to you, instead of waiting until you left to enter the shrine. I wanted to thank you. As I said, I don't have the right to judge you for your actions, but... I can't say I don't believe that the world is better off without that man's existence. He pushed the Uchiha to their destruction, murdered my father, and sought to kill me. I can't say that there aren't people who will be better off, now that he is gone. You may not have had the right reasons for killing him, but you did what needed to be done, and what nobody else was willing to do."

Sasuke said nothing, not that he had a chance, because the Third Hokage voiced his own thoughts first. "Aiko, where is your mother?!" Hiruzen demanded, wondering just what Megumi would say if she heard the words spilling from her daughter's mouth. Aiko's eyes immediately became downcast again, and she turned away from the group slightly to hide her expression.

"She's gone, Lord Third. She died on the same day as Danzou..." Sasuke noticed the girl's fist trembling slightly in the darkness, "...Because of my stupidity."

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen asked, looking utterly confused.

Aiko sighed, attempting to release the tension in her shoulders. "When I heard that Sasuke-san was after Danzou, I wanted to know why. My mother had kept everything hidden from me... and even in those circumstances, refused to answer me, so I set out on my own to find Sasuke-san and ask why. Okaasan chased after me of course, and caught up to me as I was being attacked on the road. I fought them, but held back because... I was worried about revealing what kind of ninjutsu that I, a supposedly simple country girl, knew. When Okaasan arrived, she fought them, but was struck by a poisoned blade... It was in that moment that I learned an important lesson: Dead men tell no tales."

"You killed the bandits using ninjutsu that Itachi taught you." Sasuke said. It wasn't really a question, but Aiko shook her head anyway.

"No. Not something that I learned from him. In fact, Itachi-niichan was always adamant about not teaching me ninjutsu, especially those from the Uchiha. He said it would attract too much attention. It was one that I learned... from somebody else... But it did the trick. After that, I... I tried to seek help from Konoha, but... Lady Tsunade was unconscious, her first apprentice, Shizune-san, was running the village at that time, and her second apprentice, Sakura-san, was apparently somewhere else."

"Chasing after me, actually." Sasuke remarked, "With a rather stupid plan in her head, I might add."

"I... won't ask about that. It isn't any of my business." Aiko replied awkwardly, "Besides, what Sakura-san was doing is irrelevant. If I had just stayed put like I should've, Okaasan would still be..."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, but then he walked forward and placed a hand on Aiko's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault." He told her, "I killed my own brother in cold blood, only to immediately regret it. That was 100% my fault. You simply wanted answers, and from what you've said regarding your father, you had a right to them. It's not as if getting your mother killed was your intention. She should've just told you the truth. You were old enough to know."

Aiko looked surprised, but she sniffled, smiling weakly as she wiped a tear from her eye before taking Sasuke's hand from her shoulder, holding it with her own hand. "Thank you, Sasuke-san." She let go of his hand and breathed out, managing to regain her composure. "At any rate, I won't keep you any longer. You're heading to the battlefield, right? I don't want to cause more trouble for people by delaying you." She looked over at the Fourth Hokage and smiled as cheerfully as she could manage, "I believe that Naruto-kun is over there. It's been several years since I last saw him, but, I've heard that he's become the pride of Konoha."

The Fourth Hokage's eyes widened, "You know my son?"

Aiko nodded, "I guess you could say that he is my oldest friend. Okaasan always said that it was ironic, that I, of all people, would be friends with..." She smiled, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Never mind. I'm only delaying things further." Suddenly her eyes opened wide and she looked back at Sasuke, "Before that, Sasuke-san, do you remember my mother's warning to you and your team, five years ago?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, thinking back, before answering, "'Beware the Juugoya of sorrow' or something like that..."

"That's right." Aiko said with a firm nod, before looking back at the full moon, "Based on what Itachi-niichan told me, the curse of the full moon will be stronger tonight than any other night, and those who have descended from the Senju, Uzumaki, Hyuuga, and Uchiha will probably get the worst of it. For that reason, take care on the battlefield tonight. If you let your guard down for even a second..."

"Yeah, I got it." Sasuke said, as if there was no need to remind him before turning to leave, "Watch your back too, all right? I know you'll be hiding in the shrine like you promised Itachi, but you seem to attract that supposed curse too for some reason."

Aiko smiled wryly at him and nodded and then thought of something. "Oh, wait! There was _one_ ninjutsu that your brother taught to me." She bit her thumb, wove a few signs, and placed her palm on the ground, " _Kuchiyose no jutsu!"_ In a small puff of smoke, a single raven appeared. Aiko held out her forearm and the raven jumped onto it with a caw. She stood up and smiled at Sasuke, "You can follow this raven to the battlefield. It can lead you to where you need to go." Sasuke nodded and Aiko jerked her forearm upward as a signal for the raven to fly, "Go! Lead Sasuke-san to Naruto-kun and then return to your home!" The raven took flight with another cry and Sasuke quickly followed after it with the other shinobi following after him as Aiko watched.

愛の恵み

"I don't get it." Namikaze Minato mused as he ran alongside the other three Hokage "Why would it be ironic for that girl to be friends with my son?"

"Do you remember two shinobi, by the names of Nichi and Megumi, who spontaneously eloped on their way back to Konoha during the Third War?" Hiruzen asked him.

Minato smiled slightly, "Of course! It caused a major uproar!"

"Aiko is the child of those two." Hiruzen explained.

The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama was interested now too, "Oh? So that girl is Nichi's daughter?" He grinned, "Heh. That kid used to follow me everywhere, asking for stories about when Madara and I were kids! Hard to believe that young lady was his daughter! It makes me feel old."

The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama sweat-dropped, but refrained from pointing out to his older brother that technically, in this time period, they were _ancient_.

"I'm guessing that Sasuke-kun doesn't know about _that_ part of her identity." Orochimaru remarked with mild amusement. The aforementioned teenager was running a short distance ahead of them and was not within earshot of this conversation, partially because the Hokage were making a point to speak quietly, and Orochimaru was humoring their need for secrecy.

"Aiko and her mother renounced their surname and left Konoha when Aiko was six, about a year before the tragedy." Hiruzen explained, "If he ever encountered her before that, Sasuke has likely forgotten. It's unlikely that they did though. Aiko had a tendency to leave the compound at every given opportunity."

"Still, I'm amazed that they weren't stopped from leaving." Minato remarked, "Aiko _was_ a member of the clan."

"Megumi acted on the grounds that Aiko had not displayed any of the traits of her father's bloodline, and so there was nothing to tie her there." Hiruzen remarked.

"But I'm guessing that must've changed, if Uchiha Itachi decided to take her under his wing." Orochimaru remarked.

"Not necessarily." Hiruzen said, not wanting his former student to get any ideas about the young girl, "Given the way things were with Sasuke, for Itachi, Aiko was the last link he had to the people that he loved. That alone would've been reason enough for him to spend time with her when he was able. I'm certain that he needed that sense of connection."

"She really lives up to her name, doesn't she?" Hashirama asked.

"So it seems. The question is whether she will be able to continue to do so. I wonder if she will be able to keep her promise to Sasuke's brother?" Tobirama remarked.

"I believe that she will." Hiruzen said, a certain confidence in his voice, "The very birth of that child was a product of the Will of Fire. Both her parents believed very strongly in it until the day they died, and having had Itachi as her teacher, I'm certain that it is something Aiko herself has learned to hold dear, perhaps above everything else."

愛の恵み

Meanwhile, a young man was looking around Konoha in confusion. "Where did she go...?"

"Are you all right? You look a little lost." A voice said. The boy turned to see another boy with dark blue hair, a couple of years older than him, standing nearby with a young woman and her parents.

"Yes, I'm all right. I'm just looking for my friend. We need to find a place to spend the night, but... she's disappeared." The boy replied.

"I see." The other boy said with a nod, "What is her name? Perhaps we can help you look for her."

"Oh, uh, her name is Aiko. She was originally born in this village, so she may know her way around. She mentioned something about visiting her childhood home, but... I don't know where that is."

"Aiko?" The older boy seemed thoughtful, and then smiled, "I think I can help you find her. Follow me. Oh by the way, I'm Mayonaka Shinjiro. This is my mentor, Mako-sensei, his wife, Miyu-han, and their daughter, Oyu-chan."

"My name is Koujirou." As he followed Shinjiro and his teacher's family through the village, Koujiirou couldn't help but note the ease with which the older boy navigated the streets of Konoha. "You seem to know this place well. Are you guys from here?"

"Actually, this is my first time being here." Shinjiro answered, "We came here from Yugakure, due to the evacuation order regarding the war. But I'm a sensory type, so I'm just following the signal of your friend's chakra."

"Oh." Koujirou replied. He didn't know enough about Ninja and sensory abilities to think of asking _how_ Shinjirou knew for sure that he was following Aiko's chakra. Nonetheless, it wasn't long before they arrived at the _torii_ gate of Nakano shrine, where Aiko was still staring up at the moon.

"Aiko-san, there you are!" Koujirou said as he jogged over to her.

Aiko startled slightly and looked over at him. "Oh, Koujirou-kun. How did you... find... me..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Shinjiro and his companions following her friend.

"Oh, this is Mayonaka Shinjiro-san." Koujirou explained, "He's a sensory type, so he helped me to find you." The poor civilian boy had no concept of how alarming that explanation might have been, but contrary to the normal reaction, Aiko seemed to relax.

"Mayonaka? Are you the same Mayonaka Shinjiro who tended to my shishou, prior to his death?" Aiko asked.

"That's right." Shinjiro said with a nod. "I'm a bit surprised, Aiko-han. Based on what he told me, it's rare for you not to notice when somebody approaches you, especially if they aren't even _trying_ to conceal their presence."

Aiko blinked, and then sighed softly, "You're right. I got caught up in my thoughts and let my guard down. If he were still here, he'd surely reprimand me for that and remind me that dropping one's guard is the reason my father died. He always told me never to do it, even when I think I am safe."

"That certainly sounds like him." Shinjiro said with a wry smile.

"Wait, I'm confused. You two know each other?" Koujirou asked, looking between the two.

"Only by way of a mutual..." Aiko stopped, furrowing her brow, "I'm not sure what the right word is. He was much more than an acquaintance, but... our relationships with him were very different. For Shinjiro-san, he was a friend and a patient, but for me..."

"You called him your 'shishou'." Koujirou said, seeming further confused, "But I didn't even know that you had a mentor."

"There was a reason for that, but I would rather not..." Aiko trailed off again as the moon caught her gaze and her eyes widened, "Oh no. Everyone, inside the shrine, _now!_ "

"What? Why?" Koujirou asked as Shinjiro and his teacher's family ran past him to the aforementioned building.

"Never mind that, hurry!" Aiko said, grabbing her friend by the wrist and pulling him along. From what Koujirou could see, there wasn't really a shrine to speak of. Only a staircase leading underground, just randomly sitting in the wreckage of the surrounding area. "Quick! Get down there!" Aiko commanded Koujirou, pushing him toward the staircase, where Shinjiro was already ready to help him.

"Aiko-san, what's going on?" Koujirou asked again.

"There's no time for questions!" Aiko said sharply. Koujirou was not given another chance to question her as Shinjiro hurriedly pushes him toward Mako. Receiving a nod from Aiko, the older boy hurried down the stairs as well before Aiko quickly followed.

"How are we going to close the entrance?" Oyu asked nervously.

"I got it." Aiko replied, quickly turning her back to Koujirou. "Susano'o!" Pink chakra swirled up around her as a skeletal arm appeared out of nowhere, reaching up through the hole and dragging the stone over the entrance back in place. As the chakra disappeared as suddenly as it had come, Aiko wove signs that only she could see. " _Hikari naku no jutsu_!" She turned back around, and seeing Shinjiro's confusion, quickly explained, "Light shouldn't be able to enter this room to begin, but that was just an extra precaution. Add yours in case we need to avoid detection by the enemy."

Shinjiro nodded and quickly wove his own signs, " _Oto naku no jutsu!"_ He sighed as he stood up from pressing his palm on the ground and looked toward Aiko. "Now what? We've ensured light can't enter from outside and have prevented sound from leaving this room, but now we can't see a thing."

"I can." Aiko assured him, "Give me a moment and I'll light the torches." As she headed over to the torches in the room, Koujirou seemed to notice Aiko's eyes shining in the dark, and he gasped, his breath catching in his throat. Aiko heard him, but said nothing as she blew a small fireball from her mouth to the first torch, and then moved over to the second to do the same.

"Aiko-san, your eyes..." Koujirou managed.

Aiko looked down, seeming troubled. "It seems I will have to move back to Konoha sooner than I thought... There's no way I can return Yamasato now..."

"Huh?" Koujirou asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Koujirou-kun, think about it." Aiko said bluntly, "I possess a rare bloodline trait that only three other individuals currently alive have, and two of the three are currently considered S-rank international criminals. How exactly do you think the others would react to that?"

"Oh, I... guess that's true..." Koujirou said awkwardly.

"Besides, even without the current notoriety of my clansmen, I know well enough the dangers associated with having a Kekkei Genkai." Aiko continued, "Entire clans have been forced into hiding because people feared their powers, and the Sharingan is the most feared of all. That's part of why... there are only three of us left..."

Koujirou was quiet for a moment, before he suddenly stride toward Aiko. "If that's the problem, then I won't tell anyone. I'll carry your secret to my grave if I have to."

Aiko smiled sadly at him as she deactivated her Sharingan, "I appreciate that, but... I'll need to return to Konoha eventually anyway. I promised my mother that I would pass the Will of Fire on to her grandchildren, and I can't very well do that if I don't have children. For that, I will need a husband, and it will have to be someone who can either be entrusted with my secret, or—"

"Then marry me." Koujirou interrupted.

"Wh... what?" Aiko asked, a faint blush tainting her cheeks. Koujirou apparently ignored this as he took Aiko's hands into his own.

"Aiko-san, I've liked you for the longest time. You're different from the other girls in our village, and not because you're really an Uchiha or because you come from Konoha, but because you are daring and adventurous, never afraid of anything. I can't bear the thought of you being alone anymore, so please, marry me."

"K-Koujirou-kun..." Aiko said in a slight daze before looking down, "But... we're only sixteen."

"Then we'll just have a long engagement and wait until we are both twenty, if that's what you want." Koujirou promised her. Tears flowed down Aiko's cheeks before she smiled softly and nodded. Koujirou wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his embrace.

Shinjiro and his companions watched this quietly for a moment before the dark-haired boy cleared his throat to remind them both that they were still there. "Itachi-han never told me that you also possessed the Mangekyou Sharingan." He stated in an attempt to change the subject slightly.

"Itachi?!" Koujirou exclaimed in slight alarm.

"That's because I didn't have it yet when he passed." Aiko replied before turning to Koujirou, "Uchiha Itachi was not the criminal that everybody thought he was. He was actually a spy for Konoha." That was the simplest explanation she could give, and it was leaving out a lot of detail, but Koujirou seemed to accept.

"I see..." He looked up at the ceiling of the underground room, "At any rate, what's going on? Why did we have to hide down here all of a sudden?"

"Itachi-niichan warned us that the terrorists known as Akatsuki would enact their final plan tonight, and that the world would be engulfed in a powerful genjutsu known as the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the light of which could pierce all shadows." Aiko explained to him.

Koujirou looked confused, "But wouldn't that mean it was impossible to hide from it?"

Aiko smirked lightly in response, "A shadow, by definition, is a place where light has been partially blocked, but can still reach nonetheless. A place where light does not reach is not in the shadows, it's completely dark. Therefore, the only safe places are underground chambers like this one, or deep within caves. The only reason we have light in here at all is because of the torches."

"Itachi-han knew this about the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and so he warned us that we should come and hide here, in the room beneath Nakano Shrine, and asked us to meet up with Aiko-han." Shinjiro added.

"So that's why you were so willing to come with me to Konoha tonight." Koujirou realized, "I had expected that I would need to persuade you to come with me."

"Yes." Aiko said with a nod, "I had already promised Itachi-niichan that I would come here tonight. When you told me you were planning to come here, I was eager to accompany you, not only because we were going to the same place, but so that I could ensure your safety."

"My safety?"

"You might've encountered bandits between our village and Konoha. I may not be a full-fledged ninja, but I can still deal with that type."

"What now though?" Oyu suddenly asked. "If we're the only ones who haven't been caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi... is there anything that can be done?"

"Let me check on the situation." Aiko replied, activating her Sharingan once more and allowing the Mangekyou to form.

"What do you mean?" Mako asked in confusion.

"My Mangekyou Sharingan allows me to see things through the eyes of others." She explained, "With my left eye, I can cast the same Tsukuyomi as my shishou, and with my right, see through the eyes of people or animals that I've marked."

"How does that helped us?" Koujirou asked.

Aiko smirked lightly, "He doesn't know it, but I came into contact with Uchiha Sasuke earlier tonight and was able to place my mark upon him."

"You did what?!" Koujirou cried in alarm.

"Relax." Aiko said with a slight eye roll, "Sasuke-san and I have known each other for a long time, and besides, I doubt that he would ever harm his brother's adorable apprentice. Besides, he made contact with me first, so it's not as if I touched him without permission. There was no danger."

"You were Itachi's apprentice...?" Koujirou managed.

"I was born into one of the strongest of all Shinobi clans. There's a _lot_ that I've done without anyone noticing." Aiko replied before focusing her power.

 _"Naruto! Don't do it right now!" Sasuke reached forward and grabbed his best friend's shoulder, stopping the brightly glowing shinobi before he could just take off. "Don't go outside right now. Without this Susano'o that my eye made, you'd get bound up in his genjutsu as well! Also, his shadows are outside as well. If you and I fall, it's all over! We need to bide our time."_

Aiko blinked, ending the connection, and allowed her eyes to return to normal. "It's all right. There are still people able to fight. Sasuke-san, Naruto-kun, Haruno Sakura, and Hatake Kakashi are all being shielded from the genjutsu by Sasuke-san's own Susano'o."

"The Susano'o can do that?!" Shinjiro asked incredulously.

"Ordinarily, no." Aiko replied, "But my mark on his hand allows me to sense Sasuke-san's chakra to a degree, even from this distance. Something about it changed a while back. I noticed it, but didn't have time to think about it. Whatever it is, it seems to have enhanced his doujutsu to the point that he is able to block the light of the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"Hey, Aiko-san, what are these?" Oyu asked from a nearby bookcase. She was a holding a couple of scrolls in her hands. "I can't read them, but they're all labeled on the outside with the kanji for either fire or lightning."

"Let me see." Aiko said, walking over and taking one of the scrolls from Oyu. "It's no wonder you can't read them. They're encoded so that only those with the Sharingan can read them."

"Oyu!" Miyu scolded as Aiko activated her Sharingan to read the scroll, "You shouldn't have been snooping around to begin with. If nobody else, the things in this place belong to Aiko-chan!"

"Sorry Okaasama. I was just curious about why there were all these scrolls down here." Oyu apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Aiko told her, "The Uchiha were a very secretive clan to begin with, so it's not as if you were going to learn something you shouldn't." She continued scanning the scroll, and then her eyes widened, "These are... instructions for performing the generational fire and lightning jutsu belonging to my clan!"

"You don't already know those?" Koujirou asked, and Aiko shook her head.

"I never learned them because knowing them could put me in danger..." She explained as tears began to spill down her cheeks, "Itachi-niichan... he gave me a way to learn our clan's techniques... That's why he told me to hide here instead of in a cave closer to home. Oyu-san, please do me a favor. I'm going to memorize every one of these with my Sharingan, so that I can practice them later. When I hand you a scroll, please roll it back up and retie it."

* * *

Yeesh. This Shippuden part is taking way longer than I intended. Oh well. Hoping the next chapter will be the last of that part of Aiko's life.

Also, Hikaru Naku no Jutsu and Oto Naku no Jutsu mean "Technique of No Light" and "Technique of No Sound", respectively. They are both sealing jutsu that prevent light or sound from entering or leaving a completely enclosed space.

The reason why Shinjiro uses "han" instead of "san" to address people is because he speaks using Kanzai dialect. Oyu and her family do not speak this way because Shinjiro is not originally from Yugakure.


	6. The Curse of Hatred

"Aiko-chan?" Koujirou asked as Aiko scanned through the last of the scrolls she had found in the room beneath Nakano Shrine.

"What is it?" Aiko asked without looking up from her task.

"If... If Uchiha Itachi wasn't a criminal, then... why did he murder his entire clan?" Her fiancé asked awkwardly.

Aiko blinked and looked up at him, seemingly caught a bit off guard, "Because of the curse."

"Curse?"

"Yes. The Curse of Hatred that was placed upon our clan by the progenitor of the Uchiha." Aiko explained as she turned back to the scroll.

"Why would he curse his own descendants?" Koujirou asked in confusion.

"That wasn't exactly his intention." Aiko replied as she unfurled the scroll a bit more. "My ancestor mistakenly believed that his father and younger brother had betrayed him, and so he swore revenge on his brother and his descendants. For that reason, the Uchiha have always been predisposed to being overcome by hatred, although there have been those among us who were able to resist the curse."

"Really? Like who?" Koujirou asked, nervous and interested at the same time.

"My father, for one." Aiko told him, "He married my mother because he loved her, even though her own clan... didn't get along well with the Uchiha. Itachi-niichan was the same way, but in the end, he was forced to do something terrible in order to preserve both the future of Konoha and the future of our clan."

"What do you mean?" Koujirou asked.

"As I said, most of our clansmen were predisposed to hatred because of the curse." The young woman explained as she continued to read, "My father once put it this way: 'If not released, anger turns to bitterness, and bitterness turns to hatred, and hatred will undoubtedly fan the flames of the Uchiha, until they are consumed and destroyed by their own fire.' That's what our clan's crest is you know; a fan used to stoke the flames of a grill, because our name means 'fan' and our specialty is fire style jutsu."

"So... is that what happened?" Koujirou asked her, looking slightly confused.

"In a manner of speaking." Aiko replied, "This was after Okaasan and I had left Konoha, but... Most of the clan had come to resent Konoha and its leadership due to injustices that we had suffered; injustices that were primarily the work of one man. They were planning to stage a coup d'tat. Their goal was to change things to improve conditions for the clan, but... if they had been allowed to go through with it, Konoha would've become engulfed in a civil war, which might have led to another nation attacking us, and the Uchiha clan would've most certainly been destroyed, or, if any children survived, they would undoubtedly suffer greatly, and the same thing would inevitably happen again. However, the higher-ups in Konoha couldn't do anything to stop it directly. That was why Itachi-niichan accepted the mission to kill everyone and take on the mantle of a rogue ninja, on the condition that he be allowed to spare his younger brother."

"But... you speak as if you were close with him..." Koujirou said in confusion.

"As I said before, I was his apprentice, in a manner of speaking." Aiko explained, "Itachi-niichan wasn't able to spend a great deal of time training me because of his undercover mission, so our relationship was a bit atypical of the usual mentor-apprentice relationship. Especially because my own situation limited him on the things he could teach me, but... Training me helped us both to remain connected to Konoha and the Uchiha Clan. On top of that, he was also the person who saved me on the night my father was killed, so I trusted him implicitly."

"I hate to interrupt your reminiscing, Aiko-han, but something is headed our way." Shinjiro remarked, a peculiar rainbow iridescence over his eyes.

"What? How?" Aiko asked, closing the scroll and putting it away as she stood up.

"It's coming through the earth..." Shinjiro replied.

A moment later, three strange, pale white beings rose up from the floor of the chamber. "Kurozetsu was right. It seems there are a few who have managed to hide from the moon's light."

"Shirozetsu!" Aiko and Shinjiro exclaimed at the same time.

"Shirozetsu?" Koujirou asked.

"Itachi-niichan told me about them. They're members of Akatsuki, in a way." Aiko explained while pulling several shuriken seemingly out of nowhere, "But my father's research indicated that they were actually created by Kaguya, the progenitor of chakra."

"You seem to know a lot." One of the Shirozetsu remarked, "I didn't think that Itachi had taught that much to his little apprentice."

Aiko smirked, "I know a lot more than you think." She threw the shuriken toward them, not even flinching as they nonchalantly dodged them. Instead she nimbly redirected the shuriken using wires that the Zetsu had not noticed were tied to her fingers and one in her mouth. The three of them were quickly caught and hopelessly entangled in the wires as Aiko formed a series of hand signs. " _Raiton! Rairyu no kokyuu no jutsu!"_ Lightning ran from her fingers and mouth and through the wires before thoroughly frying the group of Zetsu.

Shinjiro blinked and looked at Aiko, "Did Itachi teach you that?"

"Not exactly. It's a personal technique. At least in part." Aiko replied as she undid the wires. "At any rate, there's no time to waste. More of them will come in a moment, I'm sure." She looked at Oyu and her family, "Do you know how to use kunai?"

"Yes." Mako replied. "We've all had at least basic training."

Aiko nodded. "Everyone, get behind the stone! Koujirou-kun doesn't know how to fight, so I need you three to surround him. Shinjiro and I will flank the sides. If any Shirozetsu come up from the floor or the walls, rip through them with kunai any way that you can." Oyu and her parents all voiced their confirmation and hurried behind the stone with Koujirou, while Aiko and Shinjiro brought up the rear. "They'll probably keep coming until the moon's visibility has diminished." Aiko told Shinjiro, "Their goal is to drag us into the light above so that we'll be caught and can be made into creatures like them. Genjutsu is pointless and since we don't know how long we will have to fight them off, we'll need to conserve our chakra. For that reason, stick to taijutsu and don't use ninjutsu at all if you can help it."

"I understand." Shinjiro said with a nod, "I don't suppose you can use your Mangekyou to check how things are on the battlefront again?"

"It's too dangerous. I can't fight while doing that." The young Uchiha replied as she pulled her hair into a bun. "Besides, I've already used my Mangekyou twice tonight. Using it any more at the moment might damage my eyesight. I need to give my optic nerves time to recuperate."

"Right. Assuming I'm not exhausted, remind me to give you some therapeutic chakra to help that after this." Shinjiro remarked.

"Even if you are, I can probably still help her." Mako remarked, "Don't forget who taught you, Shinjiro."

"Right."

Aiko removed her shawl and turned halfway. "Koujirou-kun, please hold onto this for me. It was my mother's and I don't want it to get damaged."

Koujirou nodded and then his eyes widened in shock when Aiko removed her wrap dress, only to realize that she was outfitted in ninja gear underneath. "A-Aiko-chan."

"Never let your guard down and always be prepared. That's what Itachi-niichan taught me." Aiko explained as she took out a kunai and prepared herself.

愛の恵み

The battle beneath the shrine carried on for quite some time, before suddenly the Shirozetsu looked at each other and retreated back into the earth.

"What happened?" Oyu asked in confusion.

"Aiko-han, can you check?" Shinjiro asked.

"Right." The young woman said with a nod before once again activating her Mangekyou Sharingan.

 _"F_ _inally..." Sasuke remarked. From what Aiko could see, he had recalled his Susano'o, and the moon was no longer blindingly bright._

 _"Looks like it didn't affect that black one!" Naruto pointed out. "Sasuke! What do we do to release everyone from the genjutsu?!"_

 _"Rinnegan genjutsu can be dealt with using the Rinnegan, most likely." Sasuke replied._

 _'Rinnegan?' Aiko thought to herself, 'That's the visual prowess of the Sage of Six Paths... Come to think of it, Itachi-niichan mentioned that a member of the Akatsuki had it, but...'_

 _"Which means we need Sasuke's left eye." Kakashi remarked._

 _'Sasuke-san's?! When and how did he obtain the Rinnegan?! And why only in his left eye?!'_

 _"I won't let that happen!" The black creature that Naruto had referred to said. Aiko assumed this to be the "Kurozetsu" Itachi had told her of. For some reason, he was covering half of Uchiha Obito's body, and seemed to be in complete control of it. "All that's left to do is to get rid of you guys..."_

 _Out of nowhere, a bizarre man dropped out of the sky. "Which I, the savior of the world, will do."_

 _"Madara!" Naruto exclaimed._

 _'Madara?! As in **Uchiha** Madara?! But how?! And what the heck happened to him?! He doesn't even look human anymore!'_

 _"That eye on his forehead...!" Sakura began._

 _'Yeah, it's weird to say the least!'_

 _"Be careful." Sasuke warned, "We're surrounded in all directions by four of his Shadows."_

 _"I know that!" Naruto exclaimed._

 _'Doesn't mean the others did...'_

 _"I won't allow you to do anything further." Madara told them, "I just severed the Karmic Circle of this world. I have freed humankind from their suffering, pain, and futility."_

 _'Based on my father's research and what Itachi-niichan told me, I really, really doubt that...'_

 _"But this is... all just a lie!" Naruto exclaimed._

 _"Naruto, you're the one who's interfering with everyone's happiness." Madara told him, "Just look at this world now. All fighting between shinobi has stopped. I've transformed Hell into Heaven. I've finally corrected Hashirama's mistake."_

 _"What do you mean by the First Hokage's 'mistake'?" Sakura asked._

 _"You Hidden Leaf may not acknowledge it, but Hashirama ultimately failed in reforming the Shinobi World." The mutant Uchiha explained, "In the beginning, both Hashirama and I had the same goals. And we worked together. We tried to change the Shinobi World that sent out barely grown children out to war. The two of us created the shinobi village. However, that does not result in true peace. People cannot show each other their true feelings. Fear, suspicion, and resentment... ...never subside. My opinions were pushed aside and the Shinobi World moved forward according to Hashirama's vision. And what happened because of it?" Madara continued, "The fighting between shinobi hasn't stopped. Rather than ceasing, establishing ninja villages led to an increase in military buildup, which resulted in battles that turned into great wars... with countless lives lost. The battling in what became the First Great Ninja War... The Second Great Ninja War... The Third Great Ninja War... The fighting never stopped. That is Hashirama's legacy to the Shinobi World. Although I admit that I triggered this Fourth Great Ninja War..."_

 _"That's right!" Sakura exclaimed, "Because of you, so many people_ _died!"_

 _"I did make a proposition to peacefully hand over the Biju." Madara remarked, as if that excused his actions, "Right now, everyone is inside the Divine Tree. Each one of them, dreaming their own idyllic dreams. They are in their own ideal worlds."_

 _'Oi. **This** is my great-grandfather? I'm the descendant of a lunatic...'_

 _"Is this your idea of a perfect world?" Sasuke asked, "You're just deceiving people!"_

 _'Well, at the very least, we both agree on that.'_

 _"I just want to be the savior that ends the long history of fighting amongst shinobi." Madara replied, not noticing as Kurozetsu walked up behind him, "Just know this... It's all over." An instant later, Kurozetsu ran through Madara with his bare hand, causing everyone's eyes to widen in shock, although Aiko had seen it coming._

 _"You're wrong, Madara..." Kurozetsu began, "You are not the savior... nor is this the end of things..."_

 _"What's going on?" Sakura asked in surprise._

 _"How can you say that you, unlike Obito, are able to completely take advantage of others?" Kurozetsu asked, "Isn't that a bit presumptuous, to think that you alone are different? My dear Madara..." He continued, "You have also been inside a phantom dream... inside a dream that I concocted."_

 _"Kurozetsu, what are you saying?" Madara asked, "You are my will incarnate!"_

 _"That is also wrong." Kurozetsu replied, "My will is... Kaguya's!"_

 _"What the heck is going on?" Naruto asked in confusion._

 _"They're having a falling out, at this stage in the game?" Kakashi added, seeming equally confused._

 _"No, that's not it." Sasuke replied, "He just mentioned Kaguya."_

 _"Huh? Kaguya?" Naruto said cluelessly._

 _"Who's that?" Sakura asked._

 _"The one the Sage of Six Paths mentioned." Sasuke replied._

 _"It can't be..." Naruto said._

 _'Kaguya... the Sage of Six Paths... just what is going on?!'_

 _Suddenly Madara began to scream in pain, but that wasn't what concerned Team 7._

 _"What's up with this guy? This chakra is ridiculous!"_

 _'You're one to talk... but I guess it takes one to know one.'_

 _"All of Madara's shadows have disappeared!" Sasuke said, "Something's about to happen!" Suddenly the ground erupted as a blue energy came flowing out, "It's chakra!" Sasuke exclaimed, just managing to avoid getting thrown about by the explosions._

 _Kurozetsu laughed as the chakra appeared to flow toward Madara. "Is he absorbing all the chakra that's erupting from the ground?" Kakashi asked of no one._

 _"Where is all of this thick, potent chakra coming from?!" Sakura wondered._

 _"It's probably from everyone trapped inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi!" Sasuke replied._

 _"This is bad, Sasuke!" Naruto said, "This chakra is much stronger than the Juubi's!"_

 _'I'm beginning to think "bad" might be an understatement...'_

 _"Stop them before they move!" Sasuke replied as he formed a sword out of lightning, "Go, Naruto!"_

 _One of the black orbs that was floating around Naruto formed into a staff, which he grabbed, "You mean while they're swelling up, right?!" He asked while charging forward._

 _'Well, duh...'_

 _Suddenly, out of nowhere, Madara's already insane hair whipped out and grabbed hold of both teenagers._

 _'Well... that's freaky... not that this entire thing isn't...'_

 _"Like two moths flying into the flame..." Kurozetsu remarked, "I'm going to absorb all of the chakra out of the two of you right now!"_

 _"Darn it!" Naruto exclaimed._

 _Sakura dashed forward, but Kakashi quickly blocked her path. "Wait, Sakura!"_

 _"But...!"_

 _"Action without a plan is meaningless." Kakashi reminded her._

 _'Emotional as always. As smart as she is, Sakura-san still tends to think with her heart instead of her head.'_

 _"Darn it!" Naruto exclaimed again, "Sasuke! If we don't stop him now... He'll drain everyone's chakra before ours and they'll all die!"_

 _"Don't worry, nobody is going to die." Kurozetsu told him, "Even when Kaguya previously cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi upon the populace, she kept them alive and preserved... in order to form them into her soldiers."_

 _'Don't tell me...'_

 _"'Form'?" Sasuke asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"_

 _"Ha! You seem to be denser than Itachi. How can one use ordinary people in combat?"_

 _"It can't be...!" Kakashi exclaimed._

 _'You've been a jonin forever and you're just now catching on?'_

 _"She converted them into Shirozetsu." Kurozetsu confirmed, "What's left of those who were under the previous Infinite Tsukuyomi... That's what Shirozetsu are. They've been transformed ever so slowly over time."_

 _'I wouldn't actually call that "not dying"...'_

 _"Kurozetsu, what are you saying?" Madara asked, "The Infinite Tsukuyomi is an Uchiha jutsu! One that brings peace to the Shinobi World!"_

 _'Why would you think it's an Uchiha jutsu when it requires the Rinnegan, which is **not** an Uchiha trait?'_

 _"And what do you base that on?" Kurozetsu asked._

 _"The Sage of Six Paths... carved that into the stone tablet..."_

 _'Ninja didn't even **exist** during the time of the Sage of Six Paths, you idiot! Ugh! Is this guy **really** my great-grandfather?'_

 _"My dear Madara..." Kurozetsu began, "I've been around eons longer than you. Since finding the stone tablet left by Hagoromo, I've had quite some time to make revisions."_

 _'Clearly...'_

 _"Did you say 'revisions'?"_

 _'Well, he's obviously not too quick on the uptake...'_

 _"The Infinite Tsukuyomi is not a jutsu to confer peaceful dreams." Kurozetsu explained, "It is a jutsu to amass enormous chakra from the individuals enslaved in it."_

 _"For what purpose?" Madara asked._

 _"You acted merely for that purpose." Kurozetsu continued, ignoring Madara's question, "According to my... no, to Kaguya's will."_

 _"It... It can't be!" Madara exclaimed._

 _"Just as you used Obito as a pawn... you too, were merely a pawn." The creature finished._

 _"Hey! Look at how big he swelled up!" Naruto exclaimed._

 _"He's bloated because his body can't tolerate the amount of chakra he's absorbed!" Sasuke observed, "At this rate, he's going to blow up!"_

 _'I'm amazed he hasn't already...'_

 _"Why? Why did this happen—?" Madara asked of no one, before he inexplicably began to shrink._

 _"He's shrinking?" Sakura asked in confusion. To everyone's astoundment, instead of exploding, Madara shrank and somehow morphed, changing instead to beautiful, although no less inhuman, woman._

 _"Isn't she the one Oo-Jiichan talked about?" Naruto asked._

 _"Ōtsutsuki... Kaguya..." Sasuke confirmed._

 _Aiko's mind went blank. Kaguya looked at Sasuke and Naruto, still trapped in what was now her hair, and then threw them both back. While this jolted Aiko out of her stupor, it also made her feel like throwing up._

 _Sasuke got back up, and as Kaguya began attacking them with her hair again, he summoned lightning in his palm and fought back, only to end up getting thrown backwards when it became too much for him. Aiko was unaware of Shinjiro catching her and supporting her when she staggered because of this._

 _"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed before getting thrown back in the same manner._

 _"Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" Sakura called in concern. Thankfully, she was too frozen in fear as Kaguya floated past her to do anything stupid._

 _"These two... are Hagoromo and Hamura's... no, rather they're... Ashura and Indra's..." Kaguya began, glaring at the two teens with her Byakugan. "Then it was Hagoromo who gave them the jutsu..."_

 _'Jutsu?' Aiko wondered in a daze._

 _"What is your goal?" Kakashi demanded calmly._

 _"Ninshu... no, you said shinobi..." Kaguya began, "It's futile to speak to you about that, when all you do is tamper with chakra, without knowing its true meaning. This place, this land... is my precious nursery. I cannot allow it to be damaged further. So let us stop fighting. **Here** that is."_

Aiko had no idea what happened in that moment, but whatever it was, it suddenly caused her great pain. She cried out, blood seeping from her eye, before passing out.

愛の恵み

"...ko-han... Aiko-han!"

Aiko gasped as she suddenly opened her eyes, her chest heaving as she regained awareness.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake!" Miyu said in relief.

"Careful, don't push yourself." Shinjiro told Aiko as she sat up with his help, "You pushed your Mangekyou past its limits... your eye started bleeding."

"No... it wasn't that..." Aiko remarked, "I mean, I probably did overuse it a bit, but... Something forcibly ruptured my jutsu. I was bleeding from the backlash of that..."

"That's because Okaasama transported Sasuke and the others to another dimension." An unknown voice said, and suddenly an elderly man appeared in the room, levitating before them.

"You're... the Sage of Six Paths...?" Aiko asked, half guessing as Shinjiro forced her to lean back against the Uchiha Stone.

"That is correct... Uchiha Aiko." The man said with a nod.

Shinjiro pulled Aiko's hand away from her eye, activating his own visual prowess and then sucking in a breath. "Aiko-han, were you trying to shred your optic nerve? I kept trying to call out to you and get you to break the jutsu, but you didn't seem to hear me."

"Sorry. My mind kind of froze once Kaguya appeared..."

"Kaguya?" Shinjiro asked in confusion as he began trying to heal Aiko's eye.

"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya... also known as the Rabbit Goddess... and the progenitor of chakra..." Aiko explained, "Centuries ago, she devoured the fruit of something called the Divine Tree and became the first person to possess chakra. This power was passed onto her sons... Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, and Hamura, the progenitor of the Hyūga. Hagoromo's own sons were Ashura, from whom the Uzumaki and Senju descended, and Indra, among whom's descendants were the Uchiha Clan."

"You're very well-informed." Hagoromo said in surprise, "I had thought such things had faded into mere myth and lore over time."

"My father... did extensive research on the history of shinobi, and especially, the history of the Uchiha Clan, in his spare time. He died when I was small, but... I've carefully studied all of his findings." Aiko told her ancestor, "At any rate, why are you here, sir?"

"Because you, my dear, are an Uchiha." Hagoromo told her.

Aiko scoffed slightly, "Often I wish I wasn't. My clan is... well... I'm rather embarrassed by it." As Shinjiro finished and pulled his hand away from her, she stared up at the ceiling, "Our inherent hatred has all but destroyed us... and, well, you probably saw how Madara was. I'm stuck with _that_ guy for an ancestor... At the moment, Sasuke-san at least has a better head on his shoulders than our great-grandfather, but I know how fickle he can be. I'm not sure if it's because of who he is, or if it's just another trait the Uchiha are prone to..."

"Your father even found out about _that_?" Hagoromo asked incredulously.

"Not exactly. He just suspected it." Aiko remarked, "Just as he suspected that yours and Hamura's descendants are cursed by the full moon. Or cursed by Kaguya, rather."

"I suppose that makes this somewhat simpler, then." Hagoromo remarked. "I am here because, if it comes down to it, you, my dear, may have to take Sasuke's place."

"Take his place?" Aiko asked in confusion.

"Naruto and Sasuke are the only one's who can stop my mother right now, but... there is still the problem of the Cycle of Destiny." Hagoromo told her, "Assuming they succeed in sealing Okaasama, Sasuke may still decide to continue down Indra's path. If that happens, he and Naruto will inevitably battle one another, and if, as with past generations, Sasuke should die in the battle, with or without acknowledging Naruto, then it will fall to you, the only other member of the Uchiha, to take his place."

"'Take his place?'"

"Only one who possesses the Sharingan can acquire the Rinnegan, which is needed to undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi." Hagoromo explained.

"Transplanted Kekkei Genkai places a strain upon the recepient's chakra unless they are of the same bloodline, so it would be preferable to have me do it instead of one of his comrades." Aiko surmised.

"That is correct." Hagoromo said with a nod.

"I understand, but if it comes down to that... Shinjiro-san, I'm going to have you make sure that I can never, ever, _ever_ have children." The young woman said while reaching up and undoing her hair.

"Why?" Shinjiro asked in confusion.

"Because if Naruto and Sasuke don't manage to break this cycle of destiny, then I would sooner _die_ than pass on this horrible curse."

Hagoromo nodded in understanding, "Let us hope it does not come to that. In the meantime, I need to see to things. Aiko, take your time to rest and recover. You may yet need your strength."

"Right."

愛の恵み

"So what do we do now?" Koujirou asked after the Sage had disappeared, watching as Aiko walked over to where the entrance to the chamber was.

"First, we're going to drag the remnants of the Shirozetsu we destroyed outside, and then I'll light them on fire." Aiko remarked, "After that, we'll... To be honest, I don't know. Everyone else in Konoha is trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, so..."

"Isn't there a way to free them?" Miyu asked, but Aiko shook her head.

"As my ancestor said... undoing the jutsu will require the Rinnegan. There's no way to even free individuals once they are caught without that."

"I see..." Miyu said thoughtfully before shaking her head, "Well never mind that for now I suppose. You four deal with the Shirozetsu. Oyu and I will prepare some food for us all.

愛の恵み

Aiko heaved out a grunt as she dumped half of a Shirozetsu on the pile. How these guys didn't even shed blood was just... creepy.

"I see you managed to avoid the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

The teenager would've jumped if she hadn't sensed the chakra signatures a split second beforehand. She turned around to face those who had approached her. "Lord Hokages..." She said, finding that the four previous Hokage were standing in front of her.

The First Hokage smiled widely. "Instead of obsessing over that crazy genjutsu, Madara should've come here to meet his beautiful great-granddaughter!"

Aiko rolled her eyes in exasperation, "I don't think Hiojiisama was particularly concerned with his descendants. Strictly speaking, Obito-niichan is his great-grandchild too, and look what _that_ resulted in." She sighed, "It couldn't really be helped though. Kurozetsu has been manipulating the Uchiha for nearly a millennium, but the only one to ever realize that was my father."

"Huh? Nichi did?" The First asked in surprise.

"Yes." Aiko said thoughtfully as she fiddled with the fringe of her hair, "It was something he came to realize while doing his historical research. Unfortunately, the information was ultimately kind of useless. Nobody in the clan was going to believe him if he said that a centuries old monster created by Kaguya was playing us like a fiddle. Granted, it's not entirely our fault. The Curse of Hatred that has plagued us is by no means unique to the Uchiha, or even the descendants of Indra in general. If it were... the clan wouldn't have been driven to its destruction."

"Aiko..." Tobirama began slowly, "As the last survivor of the Uchiha besides Sasuke, what are your feelings towards Konoha?"

"Tobirama!" His brother scolded.

"It's okay, Shoudaime." Aiko assured him. "I can't blame your brother for his concern about my frame of mind." She turned and looked up at the sky. "To be truthful, Nidaime, the Uchiha are not the only ones who have been dancing to Kurozetsu's tune. The centuries long conflict between the Senju and the Uchiha started as the efforts of the Sage of Six Paths' younger son, Ashura, to reconcile with his estranged older brother, Indra. It was a quest of love. But Indra had his own quest, and that was to destroy his younger brother in retaliation for the Sage naming Ashura as his successor. Ashura passed on his quest to his descendants, primarily the Senju, while Indra passed his on to the Uchiha." She closed her eyes, "But somewhere along the line, the Senju forgot the peaceful teachings of Ninshu that Ashura had inherited and came to adopt the teachings of Ninjutsu created by Indra. As a result, they lost sight of their quest and began seeking to destroy the Uchiha just as the Uchiha sought to destroy them. As the tragedies piled up, the bereaved continually wanted revenge. In that regard, Nidaime, you were never able to completely let go of your younger brothers' fate. As a result, you were unable to completely trust the Uchiha, and created walls between my clan and the village, both figuratively and literally." She turned and met Tobirama's eyes with an unwavering conviction, "In the first place, you were entirely wrong about _who_ it was that founded the village. Shoudaime may have been the one to reach out his hand, but if Madara had not taken it, Konohagakure would not exist. As Madara's great-granddaughter, I truly believe that." She smirked slightly, "After all, it was Hiojiisama who named this village in the first place." She turned back toward Hashirama, "And Hiojiisama was also right, Shoudaime, when he said that your philosophy of 'protecting the village, no matter the sacrifice' would eventually lead the village into darkness." Her eyes became downcast, "Shimura Danzou was not Uchiha, but he was completely consumed by the Curse of Hatred and had no understanding of the Will of Fire. Because he hated my clan, he manipulated things to create reasons to oppress us. The frustration of the adults in response to that was natural. After all, we were being treated like we weren't part of the village at all." She glanced over at Hiruzen with a sad gaze, "Sandaime, you are just as responsible as your predecessors, because you did nothing to stop Danzou's mistreatment of us. Words are meaningless if not backed by action." She clenched her fists before releasing them as she sighed. "All the same, my clan was equally responsible for its own demise. We tried to handle our problems on our own, instead of reaching out to our comrades from other clans for help. I won't deny that members of the Uchiha have a terrible tendency to try and handle things entirely on our own. Even I am not immune to that. But because we didn't reach out, our situation did not change. Because things did not change, the adults' frustrations mounted, and those who advocated for peace were pressured into silence. As a result, the Uchiha came to be destroyed by the flames of our own hatred." She turned again, looking in the direction of the stone faces, "But Shimura Danzou, my relative and yet greatest enemy, is dead. Well, second greatest at least. That's why, for me, Konohagakure is nothing less than the village that my great-grandfather founded. The village that he named. In my heart, it is the place where I truly belong, and it always will be. And someday, I will return to this Village Hidden in the Leaves, and pass on the Will of Fire to my own children, just as my mother and father did to me." She turned and looked up at the sky, her mother's lullaby floating through her mind, "Where a Fire burns brightly... there's a village full of memories... Come, my darling, homeward bound. When all is lost, then you'll be found..."

The Fourth Hokage smiled warmly, "Nichi and Megumi would be so proud if they could see the woman you have become, Aiko."

"Thank you, Lord Fourth. To hear that from someone who held them in such high regard means a lot."

愛の恵み

A short while later, Koujirou watched in awe as Aiko used _Katon_ to set the pile of Shirozetsu remains ablaze and looked at her, opened-mouthed.

"Exactly how long have you been able to breathe fire like that?" He asked.

Aiko giggled, "That's not how I would usually describe it, but... since I was eleven. I used my Sharingan to copy it from Sasuke-san when he and his team visited our village."

Koujirou raised a brow, "Does _Sasuke-san_ know that?"

Aiko snorted slightly in amusement, "Please. He doesn't even _know_ that we're related or that I have the Sharingan. Not exactly a piece of information I've felt comfortable sharing with him." Her gaze fell slightly and she held her arm subconsciously, "Honestly, sometimes I would rather forget, but my eyes dictate that that's not an option."

Koujirou was silent for a moment, before reaching forward and hugging Aiko. "You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are."

"...My clan has a very troubled history..." Aiko said softly.

"You aren't them." Koujirou told her, pulling back to look her in the eyes and cupping her chin, "Konoha, the Uchiha—they are part of who you are, but they don't make the whole person."

"He's right." Shinjiro said from nearby. "I'm from the Mayonaka Clan, but while I possess my clan's Kekkei Genkai, I grew up without knowing any of my clansmen. And yet, regardless, the Mayonaka are a _part_ of me, but they are not _all_ of me. Villages, clans, comrades. These things alone do not define an individual. Every person is unique. Even identical twins do not have truly identical chakra."

"Hm." Aiko said before suddenly looking up toward the lightening sky.

"What is it?" Oyu asked.

"It's Sasuke-san. It seems he's come back to this dimension." Aiko replied, "Let me check the situation."

"Just don't overdo it." Shinjiro warned.

Aiko nodded to him before activating her Mangekyou Sharingan in order to see what was happening on the battlefield.

 _"Roku Oo-Jiichan?" Sakura asked in utter confusion._

 _"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically, as if she was supposed to somehow know who the strange, elderly man floating before them was when he had used such an obscure nickname._

 _"Are you... ... the legendary..." Kakashi began, but was unable to complete the sentence._

 _"I am Ootsutsuki Hagoromo... also known as the Sage of Six Paths." The man answered._

 _"...Guess so... since you're levitating." Sakura managed, "At this point, I'm tired of being surprised."_

 _"Seems... it went just peachy." Said a man that Aiko couldn't identify._

 _"Egads." Said the Third Hokage, "The Shinobi World sure went to Hell while we were dead."_

 _"I've never seen so many of the Biju together in one place before." Said another man that Aiko didn't know._

 _"Sage of Six Paths, eh... I feel like I've wandered into a fairy tale." Remarked a third stranger._

 _"So... it was you... summoning the past Gokage here... and bringing us and the Biju back from that other dimension..." Kakashi surmised, "You're probably the only person who could... perform such god-like actions."_

 _"...You're Hatake Kakashi, eh." The Sage asked._

 _Kakashi blinked in confusion, and Aiko suddenly noticed that **both**_ _of his eyes were currently Sharingan. "Uh... yes." He said simply._

 _"Good job guiding everyone and sealing Okaasama away." The Sage told the man of a mere thirty-one years. " **That**_ _truly was the work of gods."_

 _"...Oh, no. I can't take credit." Kakashi remarked, "I hardly played any part at all. It was all these three... plus many others. Besides which... a former friend also lent me strength."_

 _"That is why I said... good job guiding everyone." Hagoromo replied, "Despite losing your way... ...You remained Naruto's teacher... and Obito's friend. Or else you likely wouldn't have succeeded in stopping Okaasama."_

 _Abruptly, Naruto was distracted by the sight of the Kyuubi and excitedly called out, "HEY! KURAMA! Were you lonely being separated from me?! I missed you!"_

At this point, Aiko burst out laughing, much to the surprise of those around her. "Naruto-kun..." She giggled nostalgically, "You haven't changed at all!" Despite her momentary distraction caused by Naruto's short attention span, Aiko managed to maintain her doujutsu and continued to observe.

 _"Quit yelling so loudly!" The Kyuubi boomed, "I wasn't lonely at all! You got half of me inside you, remember?!" The Yonbi sitting beside Kurama burst out laughing at the Jinchuriki and his partner._

 _"Ho, ho... Look at Kurama, all embarrassed and flustered..." Hagoromo remarked fondly. "But this too is what I once envisioned." He continued while turning to Kurama, "That there would one day be a shinobi... ...who could move even the Biju to cooperate." Sakura smiled fondly as she watched Naruto, while Aiko perceived Sasuke slightly narrowing his eyes at the blond, as if begrudgingly acknowledging the boy's existence._

 _"Even Obito's turnaround was Naruto's doing..." Kakashi remarked, "He restored Obito to himself."_

 _"I see..." Hagoromo said softly, "Then I shall ask Obito to tell me that tale, in the afterworld... ...Is he still...?"_

 _Kakashi lowered his eyes at the unspoken question, and Aiko perceived that there was something occurring that she and Sasuke could not see. A moment later, however, the man's eyes faded from the Sharingan to their usual black._ _ **Both**_ _of them._ _'What in the world did I miss?' Aiko wondered to herself as she witnessed that phenomenon._

 _Kakashi abruptly collapsed and was caught by Sakura, who happened to be standing next to him. "Kakashi-sensei!"_

 _"Sorry, Sakura..." The man apologized to the young woman, and Sakura immediately noticed the change that had taken placed._

 _"Kakashi-sensei, your eyes...!"_

 _"Yeah... Kakashi of the Sharingan is no more."_

 _Suddenly Sasuke's eyes widened as they abruptly fell upon a dark-haired man lying on the battlefield, and he moved towards him, but was stopped by Hagoromo holding out his arm. Aiko could sense his confusion by the movements of his eyelids, but she watched as the First Hokage walked over to the man._

 _"Madara was a jinchuriki, even if temporarily." Hagoromo stated, "Emptied of the Biju... he won't last long."_

 _"His own fault for trying to use such things." Sasuke remarked._

 _Hagoromo regarded the Uchiha boy carefully before replying, "Sasuke... Naruto... Behold the end of your predecessors. Watch closely now."_

 _Sasuke said nothing, but he quietly observed as the First Hokage knelt down beside Madara._

 _"That you... Hashirama?" Madara asked weakly._

 _"It is." Although she couldn't see Madara's expression, Aiko could tell that the First Hokage's was filled with sadness._

 _"I guess... neither you... nor I... could achieve what we wanted." Madara lamented._

 _"It's never that easy!" Hashirama exclaimed, as if that should be obvious, "Our job is to do all that we can while we're alive. And then bequeath the rest... for future generations to accomplish."_

 _"So simplistic... as usual..." Madara remarked, "Heh, heh... You... were... always... optimistic..."_

 _Aiko idly agreed, feeling that the First Hokage reminded her of an older Naruto. 'You know the reason for that...' She could swear she heard her mother's voice saying to her, but Aiko tried to ignore it, unsure if the tears pricking her eyes were from sadness or the unprecedented usage of her Mangekyou Sharingan in the past night._

 _"But... perhaps, that... is the correct way." Madara remarked, and Aiko could see Sasuke's face softening with sadness. "My dream... was squashed." Madara continued, "But yours... is still relevant... and ongoing."_

 _"We were both too hasty..." Hashirama replied, "We didn't need to fulfill our dreams ourselves. It was more important to cultivate those who would come after us."_

 _Without realizing it, Aiko gripped her hand to her chest, remembering something Itachi had once told her. '_ _When I was a child, my dream was to become the strongest shinobi in the world and become the Hokage so that I could put an end to all wars... but that dream was destroyed alongside our clan...'_ _Aiko's heart ached at the thought that Madara could be anything like Itachi, but her train of thought was broken by Madara's next words. "...Which means I would've failed... anyway. Since I always hated... having someone stand behind me..."_

 _The First Hokage smiled warmly at his best friend and began to speak, "When we were kids... ...You once said, 'We're shinobi. We never know when we might die'... That for neither side to die, we'd both have to reveal our true intentions... ...and pour each other drinks to toast like brothers. But we're both about to die. Right now... ...we can drink as war buddies."_

 _"War buddies... huh..." Madara managed, his voice even weaker than before, "Well... I... ...guess that's... ...okay... ...by..." His voice faded, and it was clear that the man was gone._

 _"I'll remove both the Gokage... ...and all the Edotensei Shinobi!" The Sage of Six Paths declared._

 _This seemed to catch Naruto's attention, and he abruptly took off, making a beeline to the Fourth Hokage. "Touchan...!" He exclaimed, realizing that his father was about to leave him once again._

 _"That's right... there's something I meant to tell you." Minato said, and Naruto raised a brow in confusion as the sun peeked over the horizon, "Happy birthday!" Minato declared, "You've really become a splendid ninja, Naruto."_

 _"...Yup... Thanks..." Naruto said, for lack of any other words._

 _"We're an existence outside of the rules... we can't just remain in this world forever." Minato reminded his son. Both looked regretful at this and Minato began to shake as his body began to break apart. "I promise... to tell Kushina everything..."_

 _Naruto looked up at this and abruptly smiled cheerfully, "Tell her not to worry, that I'm eating properly! Lots of different stuff, without being picky! Tonkatsu ramen, miso ramen, shoyu ramen... Oh! Not just ramen, I swear! I bathe almost every day too!"_

 _'Why don't you do it **every**_ _day?!' Aiko wondered._

 _"Even going to Konoha's bathhouse once in a while! Though everyone tells me my baths are only lightning-quick dips!" Aiko felt the urge to face-palm as Naruto rambled on, but refrained for the sake of maintaining the doujutsu. "Let's see, what else, what else?! I've made lots of friends! They're all good guys!" Aiko couldn't quite read the way Sasuke's expression changed at this. "My studies... they didn't go anywhere close to well, but... ...I made sure not to get down on myself at all... confidence is something that I got more of than anyone else!"_

 _'Which is honestly a miracle considering your childhood...' Aiko thought._

 _"And of course, I obeyed Third and Kakashi-sensei! I respect them both! Since they're here, you can ask them yourself!"_

 _'I'm not sure you want them telling him about you defacing Hokage Rock.' Aiko thought with an amused smile._

 _"Oh! And those Three Prohibitions of Shinobi?! I learned a whole lot about them when I was with Ero-senin!"_

 _'Mostly what not to do, I'm sure, given what you just called him.'_

 _"He was pretty bad regarding the Prohibitions, but Ero-senin was an awesome shinobi and I respect him the most! I do! I just turned seventeen today, so I still don't know much about alcohol or girls!"_

 _'Alcohol aside, you've had time to learn. I'm sixteen and I'm engaged.'_

 _"But about Kaachan telling me to find someone like her, I dunno... ...That's... um... Anyways! Not everything Kaachan told me about went well, but! I did the best that I could! And I've got dreams too! I'm gonna be an even greater Hokage than you! I swear I will!" Tears streamed down Naruto's face as he finished his rant, "Tell Kaachan when you see her... ...That she doesn't need to worry about me at all! That I'm doing just fine!"_

 _Everyone watched as the Fourth Hokage faded away before finally the Third broke the silence. "We're leaving the rest to you... ...Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto!"_

 _"Elder brother..." The Second Hokage began, "You finally settled things with Madara. As Saru says... let's leave the rest to the next generation."_

 _Hashirama looked down at the lifeless Madara, then turned and nodded to Naruto and Sasuke. "Indeed..." Although he said nothing more, Aiko understood the rest perfectly clearly, and she hoped that Naruto and Sasuke did too. '_ _ **You will probably find a different conclusion than we did... No... make sure to do so, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.'**_

 _The Hokage disappeared and suddenly the Yonbi spoke: "Now we're all free too. I'm going home to Suirendo, screech!"_

 _"I think I'll hunker down in a forest." The Rokubi remarked._

 _"We can finally go back to our homes... it's like a dream!" Exclaimed the Shichibi._

 _"Hachibi... What're you gonna do?" Kurama asked._

 _"Me...?" Gyūki asked, "My plan is..." He hesitated, but at Kurama's inquiring expression, he finally spoke, "I think... I'm gonna go back to Bee. Even his annoying rapping has ended up growing on me. And you?"_

 _Kurama looked surprised and definitely did not seem to know how to answer, but Hagoromo spoke for him. "A little piece of each of your chakra... is already inside Naruto. In short, Naruto is like a gathering place for you. If you want to discuss something... ...You can speak to each other through your chakra within Naruto. Kurama... I'd like you to stay inside Naruto as the overseer of the gathering place. It's... no longer a hardship, is it?"_

 _"Well... I'll do it if you insist, old man."_

 _Naruto chuckled at Kurama's uncharacteristically shy behavior._

 _"Naruto and Sasuke..." The Sage began, "Having battled my mother Kaguya... ...is there any change to the answers you gave me?"_

 _Sasuke said nothing, so Naruto spoke, "My answer's the same. And I'm sorry, Oo-jiichan, but there is one thing... ...I feel strongly about after fighting Kaguya. I'm just so glad... ...My ma was Uzumaki Kushina." He remarked awkwardly. At the quizzical look Sasuke responded to with this, Naruto elaborated, "Kaguya was... different from anyone else I've fought... It's like she didn't have a heart at all..."_

 _"It's said my mother Kaguya started off as a beloved goddess of the people." Hagoromo told him, "I do not know for sure what caused her to transform into a being who came to be called a demon. I suspect that the process, or something, started... after she devoured the chakra fruit. In any case, you are not like my mother. I trust you not to become like her, even with all of the Biju's chakra within you. Now then, all that's left... is to undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi."_

 _"But how, specifically?" Kurama asked, "Do you need our powers too?"_

 _"No, you're fine." Hagoromo replied, "All we need for the jutsu to completely come undone... ...is for Naruto, who possesses all the Biju's chakra... and Sasuke, who possesses Rinnegan, to weave the sign of the Rat simultaneously."_

 _"Shucks, that's it?" Kurama remarked, "It's really that easy?"_

 _"I researched thoroughly how to undo Okaasama's Infinite Tsukuyomi... there's no mistake." The Sage replied, "Now then... the rest is up to you, Sasuke..."_

 _"Yes..." Sasuke began as Aiko wondered exactly what the Sage meant, "But first... ...I'm executing the current Gokage inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi."_

"What?!" Aiko exclaimed aloud without releasing the jutsu, "Have you just completely lost it?!"

The others looked at each other in confusion, wondering what on earth was going on to make Aiko say that. "...I'm guessing it's a good thing that Sasuke-han can't hear her right now..." Shinjiro remarked with concern.

 _Kakashi's eyes widened in alarm while Sakura looked utterly confused. Both Hagoromo and Naruto narrowed their eyes at the dark-haired teen. "...What did you just say, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, his voice laced with anger._

 _"Huh?" Sakura looked at her teacher in confusion. Clearly she had been thrown off completely by Sasuke's declaration._

 _Sasuke ignored Kakashi as he continued, "Plus... ...the Biju... I'm putting all of you under_ _ **my**_ _control, and eventually... ...I'll get rid of you too..."_

 _'Yep. He's lost it...'_

 _"What?!" Kurama exclaimed. The Rinnegan appeared in all nine Biju's eyes, freezing them._

 _"He put the Biju... under Genjutsu...!" Hagoromo exclaimed before regaining his composure and turning to Naruto. "Naruto... It has ended up as I expected. I've no choice but to trust you to handle this... I cannot stay in this world any longer. I shall soon fade away."_

 _"Yeah..." Naruto replied in acknowledgement, "And I'll apologize for this too, Rikudo Oo-jiichan... But it ain't gonna go like it did with your kids. I ain't Ashura! And Sasuke ain't Indra, either!"_

 _Shinjiro's words from earlier floated through Aiko's mind. 'Villages, clans, comrades. These things alone do not define an individual. Every person is unique.'_

 _"Sasuke!" Kakashi exclaimed, "Is that what your_ _ **current dream**_ _is?! Are you saying you're still seeking vengeance?!"_

 _"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura added with a plea._

 _"For certain, I used to only want to destroy... ...and achieve vengeance." Sasuke began, "It's different now. Now I want to destroy and then **rebuild.**_ _A village without darkness! I will reform the Shinobi World! What I'm touting... ...is... .._ _ **.revolution!"**_

 _Aiko's hand clutched her chest again as she bit her lip, tears streaming down her face this time. 'No... ...Itachi-niichan's dream can't be carried on in this way!'_

 _"Revolution... you say?!" Kakashi exclaimed. Sakura seemed to finally understand what was happening, not that Sasuke seemed to take notice._ _The teen put his hands together, and Sakura screamed as chunks of bedrock started ripping up from the earth beneath them, forming miniature planets around the Biju to contain them._

 _"Naruto... It's on you..." Kurama managed._

 _"I swear to rescue y'all!" The blond exclaimed, "Just hang in there a little while, okay?!" He quickly jumped down to where Sasuke was in order to face him._

 _"I've become quite familiar with the abilities and use of the Rinnegan during this battle..." Sasuke began, "And all those who were in my way are gone... except for you, Naruto."_

 _"Things... just don't go as planned." Hagoromo lamented, "When I bequeathed power to just one side, I ended up with Indra and Ashura. This time, I bequeathed it to both, yet it still ended up the same way..."_

 _'I don't think it would've changed if you had given it to just Sasuke...'_

 _Naruto breathed out before squaring his shoulders, "Nope... All_ _ **sibling squabbling...**_ _ **is gonna end here and now!"**_

 _'It had better...'_

 _"Let the Biju go." Naruto demanded calmly, "They've finally gained freedom! I'm friends with them, so I know... they won't do evil anymore."_

 _'I seriously doubt that is Sasuke's concern...'_

 _"Naruto..." Sasuke began, "You don't seem to understand at all. You're now the Jinchuriki of all the Biju. Which means I plan to eventually get rid of... the Biju Chakra inside of you too."_

 _'...Our clan is doomed. Utterly and hopelessly doomed.'_

 _"In short, you're going to die, Naruto. Out of necessity."_

 _'Necessity?! Do you think you can build a village without darkness like_ _ **this?!'**_

 _"If what the Sage said is true... ...There's no need to use the Biju power inside of you to undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I can just use the Biju themselves that I've trapped. So I'll let them live until then."_

 _"I won't let you do any harm to them... You know that, right?!" Naruto demanded._

 _'Really, really don't think he cares at this point, Naruto-kun...'_

 _Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blond, "As expected, I'll have to deal with you first, Naruto. Let's move this elsewhere. You understand, don't you?"_

* * *

Yeah... so much for doing Aiko's Shippuden years in one chapter. But there's only one left! I know for sure this time because I've already written it. ;

Anyway, all of the dialogue that Aiko witnesses through her Mangekyou is quoted directly from the last volume of the Naruto manga. It's easier to make sure I don't end up with a canon conflict that way. Her inner dialogue, of course, is not in the book. XD

Also, Rairyu no kokyuu no jutsu means "Current of Lightning Dragon Technique" and is a jutsu that Aiko developed in between her mother's death and her trip to Konoha. It was inspired by Sasuke's Dragon Fire Jutsu.

EDIT: 02/22/19: I realized I messed up the chronology of the battle a bit, so I fixed it.

EDIT: 01/20: I added in a scene of Aiko talking with the first four Hokage because I reference it in later stories and felt the need to show the conversation.


	7. The Blessing of Love

As Sasuke turned to leave, Aiko finally released her doujutsu, almost immediately falling forward as pain surged through her eyes.

"Aiko-chan!" Koujirou cried, but Shinjiro caught the girl before she hit the ground and supported her.

Aiko panted from the strain of having used her doujutsu for so long, tears falling down her cheeks. The world was a complete blur to her at the moment, but she was unconcerned by it. "That... that idiot!"

"Huh? What are you..." Koujirou began, but Aiko answered before he could finish.

"He used to say this about Naruto-kun, but Sasuke is a major idiot!" She exclaimed in anger, "What is he trying to?! Doom our clan for all eternity?! Screw that! I am **not** going to let my children carry the burden of the Curse of Hatred!" She shrugged Shinjiro off, turning and walking off to the utter astonishment of her associates.

"Where are you going?!" Koujirou asked.

"Sasuke challenged Naruto-kun to a showdown, and I know exactly where he intends to have it!" Aiko replied, "I'm going to watch them from a distance and see if Sasuke manages to come to his senses by the end of it. If he doesn't, then **I'll** knock some sense into him **myself!** "

"What?!" Koujirou exclaimed, "He could kill you!"

Aiko snorted in amusement, "Please, by the time he and Naruto-kun are done pounding on each other, they'll be so exhausted that a rookie genin could take them on."

"While you're probably right about that, I can't say this is a good idea." Shinjiro remarked, far calmer than Aiko's fiancé, "You're suffering from a major backlash from overusing your Mangekyou by a mile. How exactly do you intend to even make it to where they're headed?"

"I have a map of the Land of Fire memorized and Itachi-niichan trained me to be able to move with or without my sight." Aiko informed him.

Shinjiro sighed, "Of course he did. But you're still exhausted and low on chakra. It's not safe for you to go alone."

"Literally every living thing except for ten of us are under genjutsu right now." Aiko remarked, "It's not like I could get attacked by... wait, what?"

"I said you shouldn't go alone. I'll go with you." Shinjiro told her. "Considering who we're talking about here, you'll have to be quite a ways away from them to avoid getting caught in their crossfire. But my Shinjistugan can easily monitor their mental states from a safe enough distance. Besides, how are you going to know if he's come to his senses or not if you can't see them?"

"Fair enough. Let's go then."

"Hold on just a minute." Shinjiro said as walked over to Aiko.

"What now?" Aiko asked in irritation.

"I'm going to heal your eyes. I can't completely undo the damage, but I can at least relieve your pain from it."

"We don't have time for this."

"They're not going to kill each other before we get there if we're only delayed by a few minutes."

"Fine."

愛の恵み

Aiko leapt through the trees with Shinjiro before stopping near the edge of a cliff and pointing beyond them to where Sasuke and Naruto were already going at it. "There they are."

"How did you know they'd be here?" Shinjiro asked.

"This place is called the Valley of the End." Aiko explained, "It's the spot where Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama had their final battle nearly a century ago, well known among the people of the Hidden Leaf. I heard that Naruto-kun and Sasuke also faced each other here a few years back. It's a fitting place for their final showdown. I'm sure that's what Sasuke thought."

"Oh? You know the two of them well, don't you?"

"I know how people think." She answered, "My mother was a talented behavioral analyst." Tears pricked at her eyes again, "People in the clan used to praise me for having inherited her talent for perception..."

"Aiko-han..." Shinjiro said with concern, realizing that the memory must've made her miss her clansmen, but Aiko shook her head.

"I'm fine." She said as she said as she wiped away the tears with her thumb, "As a clan, the Uchiha cared only about one's abilities to serve the clan. The ability to serve the actual village was secondary in their eyes. They praised me because they had high hopes that I could be an asset to the clan someday. Even as a child, I knew that." She moved to sit on the ground, eyes focused on the battle. "I'm glad that you insisted upon coming with me, Shinjiro-san. The Uchiha tendency to stand alone and try to do things on our own is what led to this. Even Itachi-niichan admitted to that fault. I've also always tried... to do things on my own, even though he always warned me not to. He told me that I came into existence because my father was willing to reach beyond the clan and stand beside someone, and that I should follow his example."

"I don't think he would be mad at you." Shinjiro said, sensing her regret, "I know better than anyone that Itachi-han didn't really have room to talk when it came to doing things on his own. He tried to carry the entire world on his shoulders, just like Sasuke-han is trying to do now."

"...My ancestor's blood runs very strongly, I suppose..." Aiko lamented, and Shinjiro glanced at her.

"Perhaps... but things don't have to stay that way. Ashura's blood runs strongly too, and that's why Naruto-han is here, now."

"I know..." Aiko said as she held her clenched hand to her chest, "That's why I have to entrust everything to him... and hope that he can change the future of the Uchiha, forever."

愛の恵み

The battle lasted for quite a while, finally culminating in a collision between Naruto's Rasengan and Sasuke's Kagadzuchi that resulted in such a massive explosion that dust was thrown up even where Aiko and Shinjiro were watching, forcing them to shield their eyes.

"Do... do you think they survived that?" Aiko asked anxiously as they waited for the dust to settle.

"They did." Shinjiro replied. "I can still sense their chakra. It's weak, but it's there. They're not moving anymore, though, that's for sure. I'll keep an eye on them and if I sense they're in danger, I'll go help them."

"I'm really glad I listened to you now." Aiko replied, "I should've known that bringing a medic would be a good idea." Suddenly Shinjiro gasped beside her as he noticed something within the valley. "What? What is it?" Shinjiro reached into his pouch and pulled out a pair of binoculars.

"Here, use these to take a look. It will help since you strained your eyes."

Aiko accepted the binoculars and looked through them before she gasped. The statues had been destroyed, but within the valley, their hands had fallen and fingers broken in such a way that they were tying the unison sign. Upon them, Sasuke and Naruto lay utterly still, Naruto having lost his right arm and Sasuke, his left; but the trail of blood flowing from their severed limbs met where their hands otherwise would have.

"Do you think it's a sign?" Aiko asked him.

"...It's too early to tell..." Shinjiro replied, his eyes having taken a rainbow hue again, "They're both alive, but they're completely out, so they aren't giving off any emotions within their chakra, but... I once heard it said that 'there are no accidents'." Aiko nodded, voicing a soft sound of confirmation, and Shinjiro looked at her. "You should get some rest. You've been up all night and you used up most of your chakra by using your Mangekyou earlier."

"But..."

"Those two are going to be out for quite a while, from what I can tell. I'll keep an eye on their chakra and if either is in any danger, I'll go help them."

"Shouldn't you go help them now?" Aiko asked.

"I would, but... If they wake up and find the ends of those arms to be healed, they're definitely going to know that someone else was here. Better to wait until Sakura-han arrives if I can."

Aiko nodded, idly wondering why Sakura wasn't already there and deciding not to think on it. "All right." She said as she leaned back against a tree, "But will you be okay? You were up all night too."

"Unlike you, I've been in situations where I've had to do that, so I'm conditioned for it." Shinjiro replied, "Besides, I have more chakra than you do to start with."

"Won't you use it up if you're watching them the whole time?"

"Not if I don't activate my Shinjitsugan. Some of its abilities are passive, meaning I don't have to focus my chakra to use them. I only need the active abilities to read their emotions in this case. I can keep an eye on their actual vitality without it."

"Okay..." Aiko said before yawning and almost instantly falling asleep.

愛の恵み

"Aiko-han, wake up!"

"Unh?" Aiko opened her eyes, almost immediately noticing the lightening sky. "What the?! Is it morning?!"

"Yeah. You slept straight through the night." Shinjiro answered, "More importantly, Sasuke-han and Naruto-han are awake."

"Eh, really?" Aiko asked as she straightened up.

"Yes." Shinjiro replied, looking toward the valley, "I mean, they woke up once before, but I could tell they were just going to pass out again, so I didn't bother you. But it looks like this time they have enough energy to stay conscious for a while."

"...Have you been up this entire time?" Aiko asked with concern.

"No. I got some sleep once I was certain they weren't in any more danger." Shinjiro told her, "My passive abilities are pretty keen, so even though I was asleep, I noticed immediately when they woke up."

"Oh. So... what do you think...?"

Shinjiro turned and looked at her with a smile, "It's over. Sasuke-han has finally come to his senses."

Aiko's eyes lit up and then filled with tears as she smiled.

"Come on. We should head back to Konoha." Shinjiro told her, "I have a feeling Sakura-han and Kakashi-han will be along soon. Once Sakura-han gets them on their feet, I'm sure they'll undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"Yeah."

愛の恵み

It was a few hours later when the members of Team 7 staggered into Konoha, only to immediately be greeted by Aiko, who had anxiously been waiting for them.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-niichan!" She exclaimed happily.

"Aiko!" Sasuke said in surprised, looking utterly shocked when the brunette hugged the both of them at once.

"Eh? Aiko-chan?!" Naruto said, even more surprised than Sasuke, since he hadn't expected her to be in Konoha.

"Thank goodness you two are all right! I was so worried!" She exclaimed as tears streamed down her face.

"A-Aiko-chan... what are you doing here in Konoha?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Aiko pulled back, "Oh, right." She said as if suddenly remembering that it wasn't normal for her to be there, "Itachi-niichan warned me about the Infinite Tsukuyomi and told me of a place in Konoha where I could take shelter."

"Itachi?!" Sakura exclaimed, more alarmed by how casually Aiko had said it than anything.

"Itachi was her mentor." Sasuke explained.

"You knew about this?" Sakura asked him in surprise.

"I ran into her just before I went out to the battlefield." Sasuke remarked, as if they were discussing the weather and not the fact that his late brother had been Aiko's teacher.

"Sakura-san, I'm so happy to see you again!" Aiko exclaimed as she hugged the pink-haired girl.

"Aiko... are you even allowed to be here?" Sakura managed for lack of other words.

"Oh, that." Aiko said as if suddenly remembering and pulling away. Her face turned thoughtful as she pondered the best explanation, and then she smiled brightly. "It's no problem! There isn't any danger anymore."

Sakura's face just became more confused at Aiko's vague explanation, but Kakashi ignored it. "Are you going to return to Konoha then?" He asked the girl.

Aiko looked over at him, her smile becoming a bit sad, "Eventually, but... I think I'm going to wait a few years. The last thing Konoha needs right now is the commotion of me coming back."

Kakashi nodded in understanding whilst his students looked confused by her statement, but Sakura suddenly became distracted by something else. "Aiko, are you okay? Your eyes..."

"Huh?" Aiko looked at her before smiling awkwardly and waving a hand, "Oh don't worry about it, I'm fi-"

"Don't lie to me!" Sakura snapped, surprising her, "I can tell that something's wrong with them. Can you even see?!"

"She'll be fine." Shinjiro said as he walked forward, and Aiko looked over at him.

"Oh, Shinjiro-san."

"And you are...?" Kakashi asked.

"Mayonaka Shinjiro." The teen replied with a polite bow, "I'm a doctor from Yugakure. More specifically, I was Itachi-han's physician during the course of his illness."

"My brother went to the Village of Howling Wolves for his treatment." Sasuke said, seeming slightly suspicious, and Shinjiro turned to him.

"Only to obtain the medicine I recommended to him." The young medic explained, his expression clouding with sadness, "To be honest... there wasn't that much that I could do for his condition... For the most part, all I could do was recommend a medicine to ease his pain." He turned back to Sakura, "With regards to her eyes, Aiko-han will be fine. Ophthalmology is one of my specialties. I'm already aware of the problem, and how to correct it. That said, could you possibly arrange for me to use an operating room at the Konoha Hospital? In return, I'll be happy to help prepare the hospital for the arrival of the wounded from the battlefield. Not that you aren't more than capable, but you're injured yourself and need medical treatment."

"Oh, sure." Sakura said with a nod.

Shinjiro nodded, before accepting a cup that Oyu brought to him and walking over to Sasuke, "Sasuke-han. I suggest that you drink this."

Sasuke nodded and complied with his request, only to almost immediately pass out afterward, although Shinjiro caught him easily.

"Sasuke!' Naruto exclaimed.

"What did you do?!" Sakura demanded of Shinjiro.

"Relax." Shinjiro said as he lowered the unconscious Uchiha to the ground, "That was just a sedative to ease his pain, not to mention give everyone else in Konoha a little peace of mind. Although I can sense that Sasuke-han has come to his senses, they can't, and given the power of the Rinnegan, they'll all feel safer knowing that he's asleep."

"That's a good point, actually." Kakashi agreed, before looking up at two doctors from Konoha arriving with a stretcher, though they seemed a bit reluctant once they realized who it was for.

"Well don't just stand there!" Shinjiro snapped at them, "Get him to a hospital bed! Sasuke-han's wound has an infection and it's starting to take hold!"

The two medics looked at Sakura anxiously, so she gave them a firm look, "You heard him. I'm injured myself and totally exhausted, so Shinjiro-san is in charge until Lady Tsunade arrives."

The medics nodded in confirmation and moved to place Sasuke on the stretcher.

"Prepare beds for Naruto-han, Sakura-han, and Kakashi-han as well." Shinjiro told them, "And prepare an operating room. I have a patient in need of surgery and I need to do it before the injured start to arrive."

"Right!" Both medics exclaimed as they carried Sasuke off, and Shinjiro turned back to the others.

"That being said... I'm afraid the hospital is kind of a mess... The roots of the Divine Tree spouted right through buildings all over town... anywhere there happened to be a living being."

"Seriously?" Sakura said in annoyance, "We hadn't even finished rebuilding from Pain's attack..."

"I imagine it's the same everywhere." Shinjiro admitted, "The world is going to be rebuilding for quite a while."

愛の恵み

The next few hours passed by in a hurry. Mako tended to Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi, whose injuries were minimal compared to the infection in Sasuke's severed arm. Shinjiro began treatment of the Uchiha boy and then performed the surgery on Aiko. Oyu assisted him in this in order to keep the procedure a secret.

It was a transplant of another Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan.

愛の恵み

"Your body is already responding to the antibiotic." Shinjiro informed Sasuke as he examined the Uchiha's eyes now that he was awake again before picking up a black cloth. "I apologize, but I've been ordered to place this seal over your eyes to prevent you from using the Rinnegan."

"It's fine." Sasuke replied as he allowed Shinjiro to do so.

"I've already warned Naruto-han of this, but you're going to feel pain that will feel like your arm is still intact. That's normal. They're called ghost pains and are the result of your brain having to adjust for the loss of the limb, as well as for the nerves in that arm having to rewire themselves to account for the sudden severing of their ends. Also-"

"Stop babying me, Koujirou-kun...!" Aiko suddenly burst in the next room over, "I'm fine! My teacher was blind, for goodness sake! Do you really think he didn't teach me how to move without being able to see?!"

Shinjiro sweat-dropped, "Your brother never mentioned that his student was so... ah... headstrong."

"If you haven't noticed, it runs in her family." Kakashi remarked dryly from the next bed over, and Shinjiro looked at him.

"Point taken."

Aiko entered the room, clearly uninhibited by the bandage across her eyes and strode over to stand between the end of Naruto and Sasuke's beds. "I wanted to tell you goodbye before I left. I can't actually leave Konoha, but the hospital needs the bed more than I do. I'll be staying at the shrine in the meantime. It's in better shape than most of the village."

Although neither of them could see, Sasuke understood that this second statement was directed at him, and he nodded, "Yeah."

Aiko's head dropped slightly in sadness as she spoke, "Itachi-niichan told me... that when he was a child, he dreamed of becoming the strongest Shinobi in the world, becoming Hokage, and putting an end to all war. It wasn't a dream that he could achieve... but that's probably because of the Uchiha's tendency to try to stand alone. But you, Naruto-kun, can accomplish what he couldn't, and you, Sasuke-niichan, can help him to do it. So I want to entrust the two of you with my mentor's dream... of a world where Ninja Villages don't go to war... and a village where children are not forced to choose between their village and their family... because _everyone_ is their family. If... If the two of you accomplish it together... then Itachi-niichan won't have failed after all."

Kakashi and Naruto's eyes widened at her words, but Naruto's face quickly became determined, "Sure!"

"Yeah..." Sasuke replied much more softly, though only because his heart was aching at the thought of his brother.

Aiko bowed slightly toward Naruto since Sasuke couldn't see her. "Thank you, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-niichan... Because of you, the Curse of Hatred has finally been overcome... By the Blessing of Love..."

* * *

Okay! Just so we're clear, Blessing of Love is not canon. I just needed something to serve as a direct opposite to the Curse of Hatred.

Also, Kakashi has figured out that Shinjiro knows of Aiko's lineage. Sakura and Sasuke are still clueless and Naruto? Please, he totally forgot what her surname was by the time he was a genin, and she has never bothered to remind him for obvious reasons.

I decided that, rather than an epilogue, I am going to be writing a separate story that picks up where the Epilogue would've been.


	8. Epilogue

Sasuke walked quietly down the road, away from Konoha. He had only just left the village to begin his journey of atonement when the cry of a falcon caught his ears. He looked up and saw a messenger falcon swoop down toward him, so he held up his arm to let it land before kneeling on the ground. The bird hopped down and a Sasuke retrieved the note from the canister on its leg.

 _To Sasuke-niichan,_

 _Lord Sixth told me that you were planning to take a journey of atonement. I don't wish to get in your way, but could you come and see me before you leave the Land of Fire? I have something I want to talk to you about. It wasn't something I could speak of back in Konoha, especially not with how loud Naruto-Kun is._

 _From Aiko_

Sasuke smirked in amusement, thinking that Aiko was exactly right about Naruto as he stood up. Well, what the heck? He had to start this journey somewhere.

愛の恵み

"Thanks for coming all the way out here." Aiko said as she set a cup of green tea down for Sasuke.

"No problem." Sasuke told her as she sat down at the table, "I might help out while I'm here. It looks like the village is still cleaning up the damage caused by the Divine Tree."

Aiko snorted, "That's pretty much the case everywhere." She informed him, "My house is okay because I wasn't here, but nearly every other house in town got wrecked in some way."

"Mm." Sasuke said with a nod as he placed a hand on his cup, "So why did you want to talk to me?" He asked before sipping some tea.

"I needed to tell you something... important." Aiko said, waiting until her cousin had swallowed to continue. "There's really no good place to start, so... I'll just come out and say it... The truth is... I'm your younger cousin."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "Cousin?"

"Second cousin, to be more exact." Aiko said. "If you look at the clan's records, Uchiha Madara had three sons, one of whom was your grandfather, and another of which was my grandfather. The third son was the grandfather of Obito-niichan. So my father and your father were first cousins." She explained while brushing a stray hair from her face, "However, if you were to look at the clan's records, it would say that my father, Uchiha Nichi, never married, which is incorrect. During the Third War, my father, Uchiha Nichi, eloped with my mother, Shimura Megumi, in a spur of the moment decision. My mother had a falling out with her relatives in the Shimura clan because of this, but your father welcomed her into the Uchiha Clan. However, after my father was killed by one of Danzou's subordinates about a year before... the incident... My mother chose to leave the village and the clan in order to keep me safe. Having the both of us removed from the clan's records was an extra measure."

"So I take it that your mother knew what the clan was planning at the time." Sasuke said quietly.

"Even I knew, actually, at least to a point." Aiko said, "Like Itachi-niichan, my father believed in the Will of Fire and advocated for a peaceful absolution between the clan and the village. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly make him all that popular with the rest of the clan, and your father even removed him from his position as second-in-command and advisor." She furrowed her brow, "But perhaps I'm not elaborating enough. There was a reason that Itachi-niichan and my father shared the same views, and that reason is that my father was Itachi-niichan's tutor, prior to his entering the Academy. He didn't particularly train Itachi-niichan per se, but he taught him a great deal about the history of shinobi and the beliefs of Konoha's founders. You see, my father... had been the student of the First Hokage when he was very young. Both of our fathers were only a little younger than the Sannin, so when he was little, my father would pester Shoudaime, and his wife, and Haruno Hanako for stories of the past and how the village came to be. His love of history followed him into adulthood, and he began doing extensive research in his spare time in order to uncover everything he could about Shinobi, especially the Uchiha, from the present all the way back to Kaguya. His work was so thorough that Kurozetsu actually feared it. To be perfectly honest, my father was considered a specialist in gathering information for a reason." She sighed softly before continuing, "Everything that my father learned from his study of shinobi history shaped his beliefs, and he passed those beliefs on to Itachi-niichan at a very young age. Of course, Itachi-niichan's own desire for peace and his dislike of violence was reinforced by the things that he witnessed during the Third War. But I digress... The animosity that most of the clan held toward my father was transferred to me through their children. As I'm sure Naruto-kun could tell you, children often repeat and mimic the things their parents talk about and treat others. Because of that, and because I was, perhaps, a bit more intuitive than most children, I was well aware that our clan was not on particularly good terms with the village, and that my family did not have a favorable position within the clan. I was ignorant of the way that adults from outside the clan looked at me, although that may have had something to do with my mixed heritage. Still, despite my advanced awareness of what was going on, I was too young to even consider or imagine the possibility of a civil war. My parents had planned to defect from the village in the chaos, if that was what it took to protect me, but my father's death became a way for my mother to do so without becoming a missing ninja."

"...How many people know about this?" Sasuke asked.

"Of those currently living in Konohagakure... only Lady Tsunade, Rokudaime, and Nara Shikamaru." Aiko said after some thought. "I told Naruto-kun my surname when we were young, but he's obviously forgotten." She sighed. "Shikamaru-san didn't find out until my mother's death, however, at which point, she entrusted him with the information so that she could be buried with Papa. Lady Tsunade would know only because of secret documents left behind by Lord Third, and Rokudaime, because he had been part of the ANBU unit that escorted us beyond the village's borders: A favor to Itachi-niichan. It's not that anybody wanted to keep this a secret from you, but... we couldn't take the risk of Danzou learning of my whereabouts."

"So Danzou knew too?" Sasuke asked.

"I've no doubt." Aiko said, "At the very least, he knew that I wasn't in the village on that night. Given the degree to which he hated Okaasan and I, it's unlikely he forgot. That was why such extremes were taken to prevent him from finding out where I was." She rubbed her thumb on her own teacup in thought, "To be honest, I wanted to tell you this when you came to this village on that mission all those years ago. I wanted nothing more than to connect with you, one of my last surviving relatives. But telling you was way too dangerous for both of us."

Sasuke nodded in understanding and looked thoughtful, "Did you know about Itachi?"

"About what happened with the clan you mean?" Aiko asked, "No. At least, not until after he had passed away. Okaasan kept the details of what happened hidden from me for my own sake." She rubbed her cup some more. "I lied a little outside the shrine on Juugoya. Itachi-niichan did train me as a means to remain connected to Konoha, but there was more to it than that. He also did it to protect me from Kurozetsu, who had been trying to provoke me into falling prey to the Curse of Hatred. Following my father's death, Kurozetsu basically haunted me day and night, using his abilities to try and convince me to hate the village. The reason was... he knew that my father had left behind detailed records of his research, and that only I could read them. He frequently trapped me in genjutsu while I slept. I have a natural aptitude for genjutsu, but it became harder and harder for me to break free of them. After saving me from these attacks one night, the first time he visited us, Itachi-niichan made Kurozetsu back off, and then began training me. It was to prepare me for when he was no longer around. By placing a heavy emphasis on genjutsu in my training, he was able to help me grow strong enough to protect myself from Kurozetsu after his death."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "You have the Sharingan, don't you? The genjutsu that you cast when I was a genin was too powerful to have been cast without it."

"Yes." Aiko said with a nod, "I awakened it when my father was killed, and the Mangekyou following the death of my mother. I now have the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."

Sasuke raised a brow at this. "How?" He asked simply.

"After you received Itachi-niichan's eyes, Obito-niichan brought me yours, in case I should ever need it. Supposedly, he bothered to do so only because if things went wrong, I'd be the last Uchiha left." Aiko explained, "You and I are not siblings, but we're of close enough relation that my body was able to accept your eyes."

"So that was the surgery that you had back in Konoha." Sasuke realized.

"Yes." Aiko confirmed, "I had overused my Mangekyou during the battle and needed the transplant to restore my vision." She sighed, leaning back slightly and closing her eyes, "My doujutsu are both suited to espionage and gathering information, things that my father specialized in. I'm not a full-fledged shinobi, but Rokudaime told me there was something that you were wanting to look into, and I'd like to help you with that."

"I don't know how much that will be possible. I suspect it will require a lot of venturing outside this dimension." Sasuke admitted.

"Even so, if there's anything I can do to help, let me know." Aiko said, "I can create a network of spies across the continent, obtain information via genjutsu, and I'm also skilled in decryption. My mother also gave me a thorough education in psychology and Itachi-niichan said that I had a lot of talent for chakra analysis. My father's historical research may also prove to be of some use." She looked at the table. "Right now, it's too dangerous for me to return to Konoha. I may be targeted by survivors of Root. But I still want to be useful. This village in the mountains has never truly been my home, just a temporary respite until I can return to where I truly belong."

Sasuke nodded, "I'll be sure to contact you or come by if I find something I think you can help me with."


End file.
